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 in the course of the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gasoline 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 lower than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department 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 tips possible will suggest a significantly shorter prison term.

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

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or choose a battle 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 said videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles have been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we have been all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” said a juror who spoke on situation 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 also spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense claim “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is scheduled to sentence 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 decide decided two different instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a masks in courtroom, showed no obvious reaction to the verdict.

“We’re disenchanted,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we recognized from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) were fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed a few of this expressed at the moment.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the choose agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide mentioned it was a “close name” whether to jail him immediately however famous that he has complied with current situations of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his residence 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 address 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on 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 Faculty vote.

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

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

Rathbun mentioned he was attempting to move 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 at the officer in a downward chopping motion, placing a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed towards his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask because he needed the officer to see his arms.

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

Webster faced counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and interesting 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 non-public safety element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 folks 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 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 judge hearing testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all prices, including interfering with officers. One in all 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 Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all charges, 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 partaking in disorderly conduct.