Man with Chapel Hill connection pleads guilty to role in assault on Capitol officer in Jan. 6 attack

A former Chapel Hill business owner pleaded guilty on Thursday in connection with the Jan. 6 attack that led to the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.

Julian Elie Khater, 32, formerly of Chapel Hill, and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, W.Va., were both charged with the use of chemical spray on Sicknick while he tried to defend the Capitol against the mob that stormed the building as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win over Donald Trump.

Sicknick, 42, died a day later, officially of natural causes. The U.S. Capitol Police position is that Sicknick died in the line of duty.

Khater is the man in a video obtained by the FBI that showed him spraying Sicknick and others with bear spray as they guarded bike racks used to barricade the Capitol, according to court papers.

“Give me that bear (expletive)," Khater said to Tanios on the video, before grabbing a canister from Tanios' backpack, according to court papers. A photo shows him holding a white can with a black top that prosecutors said ”appears to be a can of chemical spray."

The exchange "reveals that the two were working in concert and had a plan to use the toxic spray against law enforcement," a court document states.

"The officers were temporary blinded by the substance, were temporary disabled from performing their duties and needed medical attention and assistance from fellow officers," the document states. "They were initially treated with water in an effort to wash out the unknown substance from their eyes and on their face. All three officers were incapacitated and unable to perform their duties for at least 20 minutes or longer while they recovered from the spray."

A tipster provided information to the FBI that Khater and Tanios knew each other and grew up together in New Jersey.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Khater co-owned and managed the Frutta Bowls health food cafe in Chapel Hill from January 2018 to January 2019, when he moved to a different franchise of the chain in State College, Pa. The FBI spoke to a witness who knew Khater "from working together at a food establishment in State College" and positively identified him in photos taken at the Capitol, according to a court document.

A former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student who worked with Khater at the Chapel Hill Frutta Bowls, which closed in 2020, said Khater engaged in political banter with his staff, although she couldn't recall specifics.

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