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 fuel masks.

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 steel flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines probably will recommend a significantly shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting 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 decide 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 said videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles were essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we have been all surprised that he would even make that protection argument,” said 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 at all.”

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

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is scheduled to condemn 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 were convicted of all fees in their respective indictments. A decide determined two different cases with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court docket, showed no obvious reaction to the verdict.

“We’re disappointed,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we recognized from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed a few of this expressed immediately.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the decide agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide mentioned it was a “shut call” whether to jail him instantly but famous that he has complied with current circumstances of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home close to 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 tackle thousands of supporters.

Webster stated 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 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 bike racks.

The body camera video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the correct facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

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

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline 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 inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, but jurors noticed photographs 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 harmful weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and fascinating 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 personal safety element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 people have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement. Greater than 100 officers have 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 decide hearing testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. Certainly one 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 Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all expenses, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.