A two-hour joint bond hearing for George Tanios, the operator and part-owner of Sandwich U accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, and his co-defendant, was not enough time for all sides to present their arguments.
As such, Tanios and his friend Julian Khater will remain in jail until at least May 6, when the hearing can continue.
Both men are being held in jail in Washington, D.C., the Department of Corrections confirmed. Each man is currently being held without bond, after rulings by federal magistrate judges in the states where they were arrested.
Tuesday’s bond reconsideration hearing was in front of Senior Judge Thomas Hogan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the court where the case against Tanios and Khater is being prosecuted.
“I don’t think Mr. Tanios can get a meaningful hearing within the next 12 minutes,” said Beth Gross, one of two federal public defenders appointed to Tanios.
Khater is accused of using pepper spray — not bear spray as previously reported — that temporarily blinded three police officers at the Jan. 6 riot. The government says Tanios bought the pepper spray, as well as bear spray, the day before, and carried the items in a backpack. Both face 10 criminal charges.
At Monday’s hearing, Khater’s attorney presented arguments that his client deserved to be free on bond, including a large bond amount which, if Khater violated, would leave “everyone he cares about” in “financial ruin.”
His attorney also argued federal judges have released people who played larger and more violent roles than Khater in the events of Jan. 6.
The government then presented its case, showing and narrating multiple videos which federal prosecutor Gilead Light said showed Tanios’ and Khater’s involvement on Jan. 6.
The videos were not seen by The Dominion Post, as the hearing was held by video conference for participants, but media were given a telephone number to call in and listen.
Light said Tanios visiting an arms store on Jan. 5 to inquire about what was legal to take to D.C. and purchasing two cans of bear mace and two cans of pepper spray showed the two knew what was going to happen on Jan. 6 and were prepared to use it.
“It’s an uncontested fact that there are no bears in downtown D.C.,” Light said.
Light also said Tanios telling Khater “not yet” and “it’s still early,” heard in a video from social media, pointed to collaboration.
“I want the court to know there’s more conversation than what the government is alleging,” Gross said, after objecting.
She said Tanios also told Khater “don’t do it, don’t do it.” Gross said those words were best heard listening to the audio with noise-canceling headphones. Hogan said he would carefully review all the videos and listen to them before the next hearing.
After the government presented its case, with 12 minutes left, Gross called two witnesses to speak on Tanios’ character. Hogan said he preferred to hear evidence, as arguments could be made in writing later.
Sean Ruth, a close friend who invested in Sandwich U and is a retired 20-year veteran of the West Virginia National Guard 19th Special Forces, was the first witness.
He said he met Tanios, eating regularly at his shop when it was on High Street, and the two became friends. Ruth described Tanios as kindhearted and a “big teddy bear.”
“As someone who wrapped up terrorists and villains overseas, I was trained to see people that are violent, that are evil-spirited,” Ruth said. “He is none of those whatsoever.”
Ruth planned to attend the rally with Tanios and Khater, but couldn’t get time off work at Mountaineer Challenge Academy, he said.
He didn’t know of any plans beyond going to the rally and supporting Donald Trump. If Tanios had plans beyond that, Ruth said, he was sure Tanios would have shared them with him because they share the same political views.
“Nowadays it’s hard to say you’re a Trump supporter without getting some backlash,” Ruth said.
Tanios’ first cousin also testified that Tanios was not a flight risk — his family and business are both in America. The family does have aunts and uncles who live in Lebanon, where Tanios’ family immigrated from, but they wanted to be in America because of how bad it is in Lebanon.
“His life was working every day, going home, taking care of the kids,” Tanios’ cousin said.
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