Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW JERSEY: A US court in New Jersey sentenced a man to nearly seven years in jail for shooting and bear spraying a police officer in the face during the 2021 Capitol riot.
According to the AFP, Brian Sicknick, the 42-year-old officer, died the next day in the hospital of what initially was said to be natural causes but the spraying was believed to be the cause of the death.
US capital rioter gets seven year
The 80-month prison term handed down to Julian Khater was one of the longest sentences so far given to any of the more than 900 citizens charged after the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
In the video cited in his indictment, Khater asks another protester to pass him “that bear thing,” before taking the spray can out of the latter’s backpack.
The convict sprayed the can toward the faces of 3 officers including Sicknick. Khater was later charged with nine counts, including “assaulting the officer with dangerous arms” but he was not prosecuted for homicide.
Sicknick’s death in the wake of the storming of the Capitol by militants backing then Ex-President Donald Trump has moved many Americans.
US President Joe Biden paid his respects in person when Sicknick’s remains were laid in honour at the Capitol.
