A man law enforcement authorities said was linked to an assault on a Capitol Police officer who died the day after the Jan. 6 attack pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts on Wednesday as part of a plea deal with the federal government.
George Tanios, a former sandwich shop owner from West Virginia, had faced an indictment alleging that he conspired to assault the late U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick as well as two other officers.
The indictment stated that he carried a can of chemical spray in his backpack and that his co-defendant, Julian Khater, used chemical spray against the officers.
The duo was set to go to trial in October, and a motions hearing had been scheduled before Judge Thomas F. Hogan Wednesday afternoon. Instead, Tanios pleaded to a two-count superseding information that charged him with two misdemeanor counts: entering and remaining on restricted grounds, and disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds.
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