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 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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the primary to current 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, including a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing tips possible will advocate a considerably shorter jail term.

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

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or pick a battle 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 movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we had been all shocked 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 additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense claim “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Judge 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 additionally were convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A judge determined two different circumstances with out a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court, showed no obvious response to the decision.

“We’re upset,” protection legal professional James Monroe said after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the beginning that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw some of this expressed immediately.”

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 judge said it was a “close name” whether to jail him immediately however famous that he has complied with present circumstances of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his residence 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 thousands of supporters.

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

Rathbun’s body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any physical 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 motorcycle racks.

The physique digital 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 proper facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to move Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging 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 began choking as the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks as a result of he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on 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 using a harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 private safety detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers had been 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A choose listening to testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all prices, together with interfering with officers. One in all them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Man 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 costs, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.