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 fuel masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first 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 before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines doubtless will suggest a considerably shorter jail time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying 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 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 decision stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense declare “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Decide 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 decide decided two other instances with out a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disillusioned,” protection attorney James Monroe stated after the verdict, “however we recognized from the start that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed some of this expressed immediately.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the choose agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose stated it was a “shut name” whether to jail him instantly however noted that he has complied with current conditions 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 “Cease the Steal” rally. He was sporting 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 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 interfere 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 motorcycle racks.

The physique digital 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 stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was attempting to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers had been struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a steel flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping motion, striking a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gas mask because he wanted the officer to see his arms.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on by Webster, but jurors saw images of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster confronted 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; partaking in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and interesting 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 non-public safety 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 Department says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A judge listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol via the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, including interfering with officers. 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 Choose Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all expenses, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.