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 fuel masks.

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

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him in 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 verdict said movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense claim “simply 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 primary three defendants to get a jury trial additionally have been convicted of all expenses in their respective indictments. A choose decided two different instances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a masks in court docket, confirmed no obvious reaction to the decision.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense attorney James Monroe said after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the beginning that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we saw a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him stay 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 immediately however noted that he has complied with current situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his dwelling close to 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 metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle hundreds of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results of the 2020 presidential election. But 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 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 motorcycle racks.

The physique digital camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the correct side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to move Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and different officers have been struggling to maintain.

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed against his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks as a result of he needed the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries brought on by Webster, however jurors noticed photographs 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 disorder; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in bodily 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 security element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before 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 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 judge hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by means of the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all expenses, including interfering with officers. Certainly one of 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 Judge 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 however acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.