THEY LIED: Feds Admit 'Bear Spray' Was NOT Used Against Officer Sicknick

Prosecutors told a federal judge Tuesday that U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was assaulted with Mace — not the more dangerous bear spray as originally reported — debunking another false narrative that emerged after the officer’s death the day after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The stunning admission by Gilead Light of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia came in open court during a hearing to determine whether two men accused of assaulting Sicknick and two other officers during the riot should remain in jail ahead of their criminal trial.

While Mr. Light said one of the suspects Julian Khater, 32, was holding an aerosol-based bear spray before the assault, he claimed Mace or pepper spray was used on the officers.

"It does appear that the bear spray Mr. Khater was holding before the assault was not used during the actual assault," Mr. Light said. "What was used was a smaller can."

Khater's family is asking the court to release him on a $15 million bond guaranteed by 16 family members. (As one journalist noted, that amount is three times higher than Harvey Weinstein's bail.) Judge Thomas Hogan will hear the case on Tuesday and then decide whether to keep Khater and Tanios behind bars until their next court date or confine the pair to home detention.

There is no reason to keep these men in jail, let alone in solitary confinement in a D.C. prison. Cherry-picked video evidence does not support the weapon charges against them; the chief investigator confessed no evidence exists to prove the can of spray ever was used or that Khater sprayed it at anyone including police officers. The Justice Department's refusal to allow access to video evidence raises plenty of red flags.

Neither man has a criminal record. George Tanios and Julian Khater pose no threat to society. Their only crime, as is the case with hundreds of nonviolent Capitol protesters, was supporting Donald Trump and daring to question the validity of the 2020 presidential election—a doubt shared by tens of millions of Americans.