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 fuel mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary 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 earlier than they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, together with a cost 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 prison, though sentencing guidelines seemingly will advocate a considerably shorter jail time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to protect 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 pick 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 multiple angles had been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we were all stunned that he would even make that protection argument,” said 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 here in any respect.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense declare “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Decide 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 had been convicted of all prices in their respective indictments. A decide decided two other circumstances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a mask in courtroom, confirmed no obvious reaction to the verdict.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense legal professional James Monroe stated after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that folk here (in Washington, D.C.) were fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw some of this expressed at the moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the decide agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose said it was a “close call” whether to jail him immediately however noted that he has complied with present circumstances of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home close to 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 metal 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 physical contact. Webster said 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 body digicam video exhibits that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the proper side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

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

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping motion, placing a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel masks.

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

Rathbun reported a hand injury 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 confronted counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer utilizing a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking 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 becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding regulation 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 decide hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all prices, including interfering with officers. Certainly one of 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 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 coming into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.