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 through the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas 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 present 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, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing tips probably will advocate a considerably shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to protect 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 fight 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 movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles were crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we have been all surprised that he would even make that defense argument,” said a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here at all.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense declare “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 primary three defendants to get a jury trial also were convicted of all fees of their respective indictments. A judge determined two different instances with out a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a masks in court, confirmed no apparent reaction to the decision.

“We’re disappointed,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the start that folk here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw some of this expressed in the present day.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the choose agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose stated it was a “close call” whether to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with present situations of launch 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 “Cease the Steal” rally. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metal pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle hundreds of supporters.

Webster mentioned 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 intrude 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 motorcycle racks.

The body digicam 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 right aspect of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was attempting to maneuver Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and different officers had been struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping movement, striking a bike 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 started choking as the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he wished the officer to see his palms.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents caused by Webster, however jurors saw images 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 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 private security element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 people have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement. More than 100 officers had been 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A judge listening to testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered law enforcement officials 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 expenses, together with interfering with officers. One 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 Choose 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.