Court orders release of man accused of Brian Sicknick assault in Capitol riot

Court order says West Virginia man displayed ‘no post-January 6 criminal behaviour that would otherwise show him to pose a danger to the community’

A court panel with three judges has ordered the release of a West Virginia man ahead of the trial in the 6 January chemical spray assault of three police officers, including officer Brian Sicknick, who died on 7 January after enduring two strokes.

The judges from the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit said in a court order filed on Monday night that a lower court “clearly erred in its individualised assessment of appellant’s dangerousness”.

Sandwich shop owner George Tanios from West Virginia has pleaded not guilty to the nine counts he was charged with as he was arrested in March, according to The Washington Post.

“The record reflects that Tanios has no past felony convictions, no ties to any extremist organisations, and no post-January 6 criminal behaviour that would otherwise show him to pose a danger to the community within the meaning of the Bail Reform Act,” the court order said.

The panel of judges gave prosecutors seven days to appeal the decision or to seek rehearing at the full appeals court.

A different panel of judges at the same appeals court upheld the continuing detention of Mr Tanios’s co-defendant Julian Khater two weeks ago.

Mr Khator has also pleaded not guilty to the nine charges, including the assault on Mr Sicknick, as well as on two other officers.

US District Judge Thomas Hogan ordered in May that both Mr Tanios and Mr Khater be detained, citing government videos of the assault of Mr Sicknick and the two other officers that the judge said showed some premeditation and proved the danger the defendants pose to the public.

“These two gentlemen are law-abiding, respected individuals in the community, and it makes it very difficult for the court to make this conclusion, but they still committed this attack on uniformed police officers. I don’t find a way around that,” Judge Hogan said at the time.

The 42-year-old Mr Sicknick was injured as he was battling the violent pro-Trump mob on the west terrace of the Capitol as they were trying to stop the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Hours later, Mr Sicknick collapsed. He died on 7 January of natural causes, officials said. There are no allegations that Mr Tanios or Mr Khater caused his death.

According to the medical examiner, an autopsy found no evidence to support that that Mr Sicknick experienced an allergic reaction to chemical irritants. There was also no evidence to suggest that the officer had suffered internal or external injuries.