NYPD veteran convicted of assaulting officer in Capitol riot

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

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost and the first 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 charge alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, though sentencing pointers probably will recommend a significantly shorter jail time period.

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

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or choose a struggle 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 movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles were crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense claim “simply 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial additionally had been convicted of all prices of their respective indictments. A judge decided two other circumstances without a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense attorney James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “but we recognized from the beginning that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed a few of this expressed immediately.”

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his residence near 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 steel pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump address thousands of supporters.

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

Rathbun’s body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than 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 physique digicam 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 precise aspect of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to maneuver Webster back from a security perimeter that he and other officers had been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gas mask.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gas mask pressed towards his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel masks because he needed the officer to see his fingers.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents attributable to Webster, but jurors saw pictures 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 dysfunction; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; partaking in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and interesting 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 private safety detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding law 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A judge hearing testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. One in every of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, also 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 coming into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.