A man charged in assisting the chemical spraying of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick on Jan. 6 had been ordered released from jail pending trial, with a trio of appeals court judges ruling the district court "clearly erred" in keeping him jailed.
George Tanios of West Virginia was accused of coordinating with Julian Khater of Pennsylvania, who sprayed three officers, including Sicknick, with a chemical spray during the storming of the Capitol grounds.
Tanios did not spray any officers and has not been accused of doing so, but he has been held since March by a magistrate judge and a district court judge, the Washington Examiner reported.
"We conclude that the district court clearly erred in determining that no condition or combination of conditions of release would reasonably assure the safety of the community," the judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wrote in their decision, according to the Examiner.
Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, Judge Judith Rogers, a Bill Clinton appointee and Judge Justin Walker, a Donald Trump appointee, added, while Tanios "has not shown that the district court applied a presumption of detention in contravention of the Bail Reform Act and precedent, the district court clearly erred in its individualized assessment of appellant's dangerousness."
Sicknick, 42, died Jan. 7, one day after the incident, but the men have not been charged – nor anyone – in connection to his death. The medical examiner concluded "manner of death" was "natural," despite Democrats, including President Joe Biden, suggesting Sicknick died in the duty of protecting the Capitol.
The examiner's office told the Examiner in April the "cause of death" was "acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis," a stroke.
Sicknick was sprayed with chemicals around 2:20 p.m. ET on Jan. 6 and was taken to the hospital around 10 p.m. ET, later dying 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7.
Sicknick did not suffer an allergic reaction to chemical irritants, and bore no evidence of either external or internal injuries, Francisco Diaz, the chief medical examiner, told The Washington Post.
Tanios "did not enter the Capitol building. Tanios did not damage property, and he did not assault anyone," Tanios' defense lawyer L. Richard Walker argued in July.
"Tanios is not guilty, having no knowledge of an assault, no intent to commit an assault, and no agreement to harm anyone. The District Court erred in detaining Tanios. The government failed to prove that Tanios is a danger to the community by clear and convincing evidence."
The appeals court ruled Tanios "has no past felony convictions, no ties to any extremist organizations, and no post-Jan. 6 criminal behavior that would otherwise show him to pose a danger to the community," the Examiner reported.
Tanios' May detention order by the district court should be "reversed" and the case sent back to release Tanios 'to appropriate conditions, including home detention and electronic monitoring," the ruling declared, according to the report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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