NYPD veteran convicted of assaulting officer in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal jury on Monday convicted a New York Police Division veteran of assaulting an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to present a jury with a self-defense argument.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, together with a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing pointers possible will advocate a considerably shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to guard himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him within the face. He also accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or choose a fight with Webster as a violent mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, disrupting Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over then-President Donald Trump.

Two jurors who spoke to reporters after the verdict mentioned movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles have been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we have been all surprised that he would even make that protection argument,” said a juror who spoke on situation of anonymity. “There was no dissention among us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here in any respect.”

One other juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense declare “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta is scheduled to condemn Webster on Sept. 2.

Webster’s jury trial was the fourth for a Capitol riot case. The primary three defendants to get a jury trial also have been convicted of all costs in their respective indictments. A decide decided two different circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court docket, confirmed no obvious response to the verdict.

“We’re upset,” defense attorney James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed some of this expressed at present.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide mentioned it was a “shut call” whether or not to jail him instantly but famous that he has complied with present circumstances of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house close to Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump deal with 1000's of supporters.

Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s body digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any bodily contact. Webster mentioned he was attending his first political protest as a civilian and expressing his free speech rights when he yelled at officers behind a row of bike racks.

The body camera video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the suitable side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

“It was a hard hit, and all I needed to do was defend myself,” Webster mentioned.

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and different officers had been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping motion, placing a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel mask.

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his fuel masks pressed towards his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he needed the officer to see his fingers.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries caused by Webster, however jurors saw pictures of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster confronted counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer utilizing a dangerous weapon; civil dysfunction; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and fascinating in an act of bodily violence on Capitol grounds.

Webster retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service, which included a stint on then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s non-public security detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers have been injured.

Two different defendants testified at their trials. Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man who was convicted by a jury of obstructing Congress from certifying Biden’s presidential victory, stated he was following orders from Trump. A judge listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol via the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all prices, including interfering with officers. One in every of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Man Wesley Reffitt, additionally was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

U.S. District Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all prices, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.