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 in the course of the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas masks.

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

Jurors deliberated for lower than three hours earlier than 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 cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing tips doubtless will advocate a considerably shorter jail term.

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

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or choose a combat 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 decision said videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we were all stunned that he would even make that protection argument,” said 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 right here at all.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense declare “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose 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 had been convicted of all fees in their respective indictments. A decide decided two different circumstances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in courtroom, showed no obvious reaction to the verdict.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense attorney James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “however we acknowledged from the beginning that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) were fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw some of this expressed at the moment.”

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house near 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 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the results of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s physique camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any bodily contact. Webster said 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 body digital camera video reveals that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the correct aspect of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun stated he was making an attempt to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to keep up.

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel mask as a result of he needed the officer to see his fingers.

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

Webster faced counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer utilizing a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; partaking in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and engaging 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 personal safety detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers had 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 choose hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by means of the Rotunda doors.

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

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