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 first 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 charge 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, though sentencing guidelines doubtless will suggest a considerably shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt 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 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 stated videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles have been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we had been all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” stated a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention among us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here in any respect.”

One other juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense claim “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 additionally had been convicted of all fees of their respective indictments. A judge determined two other circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disenchanted,” protection legal professional James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) had been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed right now.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the decide agreed to let him stay free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge mentioned it was a “close call” whether or not to jail him immediately but noted that he has complied with current situations 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 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was wearing 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” 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 Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s physique digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than 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 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 proper aspect of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as if he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was attempting to move Webster back from a security perimeter that he and other officers have been struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping movement, placing a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gasoline mask.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his fuel masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries brought on by 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 using a dangerous weapon; civil dysfunction; entering 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 fascinating 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 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 regulation 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 judge hearing testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all charges, including interfering with officers. One in every 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 Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all fees, additionally 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.