Somerset, New Jersey’s Julian Khater arrested

Did Julian Khater join the US Capitol riot?

Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Somerset, New Jersey, United States was arrested as he disembarked from an airplane at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on March 14, 2021. Also arrested was George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.

On November 3, 2020, Joe Biden won the U.S. presidential election, defeating Donald Trump. On January 6, 2021, Khater, Tanios and other supporters of Trump allegedly breached the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. while a joint session of the U.S. Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Biden’s victory.

That day, Khater and Tanios went to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. They allegedly worked together to assault law enforcement officers with an unknown chemical substance by spraying officers directly in the face and eyes.

Khater allegedly sprayed an unknown substance on the faces of officers Brian Sicknick, C. Edwards and B. Chapman, who suffered injuries as a result. On March 6, 2021, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui signed a criminal complaint filed against Khater and Tanios by a Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent.

For participating in the U.S. Capitol riot, Khater and Tanios were each charged with civil disorder, conspiracy to injure an officer, obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, physical violence on restricted grounds while carrying dangerous weapon and resulting in significant bodily injury, violent entry and disorderly conduct, act of physical violence on U.S. Capitol grounds and three counts of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

Aside from Somerset, Khater has lived in other parts of New Jersey including New Brunswick. He previously lived in State College, Pennsylvania, USA; Ethridge,  Lawrence County, Tennessee, USA and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

From 2007 to 2009, Khater attended Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg Township, Somerset County, New Jersey where he earned his associate’s degree in business administration and management. From 2009 to 2011, he attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, Bergen County, New Jersey where he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.