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 throughout 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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost and the first 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 harmful weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines doubtless will recommend a considerably shorter prison term.

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

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

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

U.S. District Choose 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 have been convicted of all prices of their respective indictments. A decide determined two other instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disenchanted,” protection lawyer James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the beginning 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 today.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him remain free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge mentioned it was a “close name” whether or not 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 dwelling near 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 deal with hundreds of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s body 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 motorbike racks.

The physique camera video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the precise aspect of Webster’s face. Webster stated 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 stated he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to maintain.

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

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gas masks pressed towards his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks 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, but jurors saw photographs 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 dangerous 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 detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than 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 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A decide listening to testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by means of the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. Considered one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, 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 charges, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally coming into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.