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 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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the primary to current 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 cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, although sentencing guidelines doubtless will suggest a considerably shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting 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 choose 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles have been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we had been all stunned that he would even make that defense argument,” stated 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 here at all.”

One other juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense claim “just 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial also were convicted of all prices in their respective indictments. A judge determined two other cases and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a masks in court, showed no obvious response to the verdict.

“We’re disillusioned,” defense lawyer James Monroe said after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the start that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed a few of this expressed in the present day.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the decide 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 “close call” whether or not to jail him instantly however noted that he has complied with present situations 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 metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump address 1000's of supporters.

Webster said 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 interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s body digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before 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 motorbike racks.

The physique digital camera video reveals that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the right side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun stated he was trying to move Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers have been struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, striking a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gasoline mask.

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries brought on by Webster, however 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 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 interesting 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 within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before 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 regulation enforcement. More than 100 officers were 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A judge listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, including 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 prices, also 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 partaking in disorderly conduct.