A Former State College of Commerce Owner A man was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years in federal prison for assaulting two police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Julian E. Cater, now of New Jersey, pleaded guilty in September to pepper-spraying US Capitol Police officers Brian Cicnik and Carolyn Edwards. The 34-year-old former owner of Frutta Bowls in Mid-State College, which closed In 2020, He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting officers with a deadly weapon.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan sentenced Khatter to 80 months, with credit for 22 months served, and a $10,000 fine. The sentence, which ranges from six and a half to eight years, is the maximum sentence given to more than 900 people charged with capital assault. Federal prosecutors wanted him for 90 months.
Chater traveled to Washington, D.C., on January 6 to meet with 42-year-old George P. of West Virginia. Tanios brought along two cans of bear spray and two cans of pepper. The two men joined a group of Trump supporters who attended a rally where former President Donald Trump spoke and went to the Capitol to block Congress from declaring Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
Tanios, Man He pleaded guilty For two offenses, he was sentenced to five months.
Khatter tells Tanios, “Give me that bear sh–” and reaches into Tanios’ backpack, saying that he just sprayed it. As other rioters began to forcefully remove the bike rack barriers, Cather sprayed the can in Siknik’s face, turned his head and had to retreat. The prosecutor said that Cather was pepper-spraying the bear, not the bear.
Syknik died the next day. Washington DC Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz Siknik died of natural causes due to profuse bleeding, and neither Khater nor Tanios have been charged in his death.
But Diaz said, “All that happened [on January 6] It played a role in his situation,” he said The Washington Post.
Edwards, who was sprayed at the same time and who They testified. In testimony to the House’s Jan. 6 committee last June, Cicnik said she was “pale with shock” during the attack and blamed the survivors for not being able to help him because she was powerless at the time.
“Sometimes when I close my eyes I can see his face as white as a sheet,” she said. New York Times. “I would give anything to take the pain away from the Siknik family and my fellow officers.”
Dozens of U.S. Capitol Police officers attended Friday’s sentencing in federal district court in Washington, which included testimony from the Siknik family.
Brian Cicnik’s mother, Gladys Cicnik, told Cater at the sentencing: “You attacked my son like an animal. You are the animal, Mr. Cutter. … How would you feel going to jail for lying to your bald face?” according to NPR.
She was more critical of the rioters.
“You all bear responsibility for the injuries Brian’s colleagues suffered — the broken bones, head injuries and ongoing mental anguish they suffer,” the Times reported. “Imagine the emotional pain that causes someone to take their own life. Four officers committed suicide. “You and your ‘movement’ have killed them,” he said.
Khatter asked the court to sentence him over time.
“What happened on January 6th – no word,” he told Hogan. “It’s sad, and I wish I could have it all back.
Hogan said Cater did not apologize to the officers. Khatter said he did not apologize because of ongoing civil cases, including a lawsuit from Siknik’s longtime partner, Sandra Garza.
“I find this to be a very self-centered approach,” Hogan told Cater.
He is the second person associated with State College to be charged with a felony in connection with the January 6, 2010, incident. Brian Gunderson28, was He was found guilty Disrupting a congressional vote and assaulting a law enforcement officer in November.
