A federal court in Washington sentenced a man who used pepper spray during the assault on the U.S. Capitol against a police officer, who died hours later, to nearly seven years in prison Friday.
Julian Khater, 32, has admitted to using chemical spray against three officers defending the U.S. Capitol after attending former President Donald Trump’s rally in Washington earlier that day, ‘The Hill’ has reported Among the officers attacked, Officer Brian Sicknick had to be hospitalized the night of the assault and died the next day. A medical examiner determined it was two strokes caused by a blood clot.
However, while the doctor linked the death to natural causes, the bell pepper spray attack was said to have played a key role in his condition, according to the newspaper.
For these facts, Khater has been found guilty by Judge Thomas Hogan of two minor charges of disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct, avoiding a charge of murder, sentencing him to six years and seven months in prison, in addition to a fine of 10,000 dollars (9,190 euros).
«Were it not for the coroner’s report, Khater could face a murder charge (…) I am troubled by what he did, regardless of whether he is directly responsible for Officer Sicknick’s death,» the magistrate has asserted during his intervention, according to ‘The Washington Post’.
The Justice Department had asked the judge in charge of the case to sentence Kharer to seven years and five months, while Khater’s lawyers requested that the almost two years he has spent in prison on a provisional basis be used to serve his sentence, a request that has not been approved.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
