Capitol rioter accused of bear-spraying officer retains celebrity lawyer

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A rioter accused of bear-spraying US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick has retained a lawyer known for repping NFL owner Dan Snyder, former Yankee Alex Rodriguez and rapper Meek Mill, among other celebrity clients.

Julian Khater — who has been charged along with his childhood pal, George Tanios, of allegedly assaulting Sicknick with a powerful chemical spray used for deterring aggressive bears — has hired Joseph Tacopina for his defense.

Khater, 32, is scheduled to appear at a virtual hearing on Tuesday at 10:30a.m., where Tacopina will rep him, sources told us. Khater has been in jail since his March 14 arrest, and pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have been attempting to negotiate a bail package.

According to Tacopina’s bio, he has also previously repped clients including Jay-Z, Sean Hannity and Don Imus.

Prosecutors allege that Khater — a former co-owner of a chain health-food cafe — and Tanios, 39, the owner of the “Sandwich University’’ eatery in West Virginia, are accused of discharging bear spray into the faces of three officers, including Sicknick.

Sicknick died in a hospital the day after the January attack on Congress.

Officials have so far not released Sicknick’s cause of death, or tied his death to the alleged bear spray incident. Khater and Tanios are facing criminal charges of assaulting Sicknick, as well as another Capitol Police officer and a Washington, DC cop.

According to an indictment, the three injured officers were temporarily blinded by the bear spray, with one of them, a female cop, suffering scarring under her eyes for weeks, court papers said. A federal investigator has reportedly said Sicknick may have ingested a chemical during the riots, which could have contributed to his death. He was also hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the melee.

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