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 throughout the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas mask.

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

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost 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 making an attempt to guard 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 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 mentioned videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

One other juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense claim “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta is scheduled to condemn 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 prices of their respective indictments. A decide determined two other cases and not using a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

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

“We’re disappointed,” defense attorney James Monroe said after the verdict, “but we recognized from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) were fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge stated it was a “close name” whether or not to jail him instantly 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 metal 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 outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.

Rathbun’s physique camera 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 motorbike racks.

The physique digital camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the suitable aspect of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was making an attempt to maneuver Webster back from a security perimeter that he and different officers have been struggling to keep up.

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed towards his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gas mask because he needed the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries brought on by Webster, but jurors noticed photos 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; getting into 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 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 private security 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 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 choose hearing testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered law enforcement officials 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 prices, including interfering with officers. One among them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Guy 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 charges, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.