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 in the course of the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gasoline mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to current 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, together with a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, although sentencing guidelines likely will suggest a considerably shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting 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 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 said movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we had been all surprised that he would even make that defense argument,” mentioned 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 at all.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense declare “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 first three defendants to get a jury trial additionally have been convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A choose determined two different circumstances with out a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re upset,” defense legal professional James Monroe said after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the start that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) were 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 decide stated it was a “close name” whether to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with current circumstances of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house close to Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Cease 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 1000's of supporters.

Webster mentioned he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the results of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique 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 bike racks.

The body 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 fitting facet of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to maneuver Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to take care of.

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

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

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, but jurors saw photos 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 dangerous weapon; civil dysfunction; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in bodily 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 non-public safety detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers have 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 choose listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than 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 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 charges, additionally 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 engaging in disorderly conduct.