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 throughout the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare 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 cost and the primary to current a jury with a self-defense argument.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours earlier than they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, together with a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines possible will recommend a considerably shorter jail time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to protect 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 pick 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 stated videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles were essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense claim “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta is scheduled to sentence 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 were convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A judge decided two different instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a masks in courtroom, confirmed no apparent reaction to the decision.

“We’re disillusioned,” defense legal professional James Monroe said after the decision, “however we recognized from the start that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed a few of this expressed today.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the decide agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide said it was a “close call” whether or not to jail him immediately however famous that he has complied with present situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his dwelling close to Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Cease the Steal” rally. He was carrying 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 hundreds of supporters.

Webster mentioned he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to intrude with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical 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 motorbike racks.

The physique digital camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the best facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

“It was a tough hit, and all I wanted to do was defend myself,” Webster said.

Rathbun said he was trying to move Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a steel flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping movement, striking a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed against his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask because he wanted the officer to see his palms.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, however jurors noticed photographs of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster confronted counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; entering 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 engaging in an act of physical 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 in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 people have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. More than 100 officers were injured.

Two other 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A choose hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all fees, including interfering with officers. Considered one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Man Wesley Reffitt, also was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

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