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Two arrested in assault of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick

15 March 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Two men were arrested and charged on Monday for allegedly using bear spray on U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Sicknick died from injuries he sustained while responding to the attack by pro-Trump rioters. Authorities have not determined whether the spray assault was the cause of Sicknick's death.

  • The suspects arrested include Julian Elie Khater, 32, and George Pierre Tanios, 39.
  • The two individuals racked up nine charges total, including assaulting a second USCP officer and a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer.

The big picture: Sicknick lied in honor at the Capitol last month and has remained a focus of investigations into what went wrong during the insurrection.

  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at Sicknick's funeral: "Our promise to Brian’s family is that we will never forget his sacrifice. We must be vigilant as what President Lincoln referred to as the harsh ‘artillery of time.’ "
  • "We will never forget. With your permission, may we be worthy to carry Brian in our hearts. We will never forget."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.