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 during the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare 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 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 charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, though sentencing guidelines seemingly will suggest a considerably shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt to guard himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him within the face. He additionally accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.

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

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

One other juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial additionally had been convicted of all expenses of their respective indictments. A judge determined two different instances without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in courtroom, confirmed no apparent reaction to the verdict.

“We’re disappointed,” protection attorney James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we recognized from the start that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw a few 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 decide said it was a “shut call” whether or not to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with current situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home 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 deal with 1000's 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 School vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical contact. Webster stated 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 digital camera video reveals that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the correct side of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun stated he was attempting to maneuver Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to maintain.

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gas mask as a result of he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, however jurors saw photos of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster confronted counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using 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; participating in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and engaging 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 security detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. Greater than 100 officers were 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A decide listening to testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all costs, including interfering with officers. Considered one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, additionally 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 coming into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.