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 in the course of the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his fuel 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 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 Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines doubtless will advocate a considerably 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 additionally accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.

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

“I assume 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 at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here in any respect.”

One other juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense claim “simply 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial also have been convicted of all charges in their respective indictments. A decide determined two different cases with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in courtroom, confirmed no apparent response to the decision.

“We’re upset,” defense legal professional James Monroe stated after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the start that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed today.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “shut call” whether or not to jail him immediately but famous that he has complied with current conditions of release 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 “Cease the Steal” rally. He was sporting a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle thousands of supporters.

Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the outcomes 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 digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before 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 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 correct side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to move Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and other officers have 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, hanging a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel mask.

Rathbun testified that he began choking because the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed against his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gas masks as a result of 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 accidents attributable to Webster, however jurors noticed photos 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 harmful 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; partaking in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 non-public security element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 folks 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. Greater 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A decide hearing testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered police officers 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 fees, 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 Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all prices, also 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.