According to the Post, authorities allege that Khater told Tanios “Give me that bear s—” during the siege, and that Khater is seen on video discharging a canister into the faces of Sicknick and two other officers about nine minutes later.
“Even though those thousands of people were marching on the Capitol were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote, I knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn’t concerned.” - Senator Ron Johnson
Indeed, especially with someone that young. I’ve had family members in their 80’s who just sort of ran out of steam. What killed Grandpa? Well, his heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing. But in a younger person, that explanation doesn’t cut it.
Not quite accurate. It is illegal to use bear spray on humans. From a manufacturer’s website… “Do not use bear pepper spray on dogs or humans. Bear spray is regulated as a pesticide by the EPA and has only been approved for use on bears. It should not be used on any other animals, including humans.”
Both the federal and DC murder statutes require “malice aforethought,” which will be hard to convince 12 people of beyond a reasonable doubt. I would expect manslaughter as a lesser included offense, and that would be a tough one to beat for the defense.
Interestingly, DC makes it first degree murder to kill someone with malice aforethought while committing a number of other acts, including “mayhem.”
There are bears in the region, so always possible a couple snuck in and the good folks were just trying to save the cops from the bears that were on the terrace.
