NYPD veteran convicted of assaulting officer in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal jury on Monday convicted a New York Police Division veteran of assaulting an officer during 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 first 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 metal flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing pointers doubtless will advocate a considerably shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying 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 decide a combat 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 stated videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles have been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose 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 among us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here in any respect.”

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

U.S. District Decide 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 additionally were convicted of all fees of their respective indictments. A choose decided two different cases without a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a masks in courtroom, showed no apparent response to the decision.

“We’re dissatisfied,” protection attorney James Monroe stated after the verdict, “however we acknowledged from the start that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed at present.”

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 or not to jail him instantly but famous that he has complied with present conditions of release 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 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was carrying a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a steel 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 interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical contact. Webster mentioned 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 digital 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 proper side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun stated he was making an attempt to maneuver Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and different officers have been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel masks.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed against his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel masks as a result of he wanted the officer to see his arms.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on by Webster, however jurors noticed 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; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 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 more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A choose listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol via the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all expenses, together with interfering with officers. One in all them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Man 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 costs, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.