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 claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gasoline mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to present 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 cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing tips doubtless will advocate a considerably shorter prison 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 struggle 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 a number of angles have been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we have been all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” mentioned a juror who spoke on situation 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 additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense declare “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose 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 also were convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A decide determined two other instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

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

“We’re upset,” protection lawyer James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “however we acknowledged from the start 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 as we speak.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide said it was a “shut name” whether to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with present circumstances 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 “Cease the Steal” rally. He was sporting 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 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated 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 intrude 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 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 bike racks.

The physique digicam video reveals that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the fitting facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun said he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken 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 mask pressed towards his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he wished the officer to see his palms.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, but jurors saw pictures 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 harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and engaging 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 in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding law 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A choose hearing testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned 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 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 opposite, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, additionally was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

U.S. District Judge 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 coming into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.