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 throughout the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first 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 lower than three hours earlier than 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, though sentencing tips possible will suggest a significantly shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt 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 decide a battle 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 mentioned movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been crucial proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we had been all surprised that he would even make that defense argument,” stated 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 here in any respect.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense claim “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Judge 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 additionally have been convicted of all prices of their respective indictments. A decide decided two other circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disenchanted,” defense lawyer James Monroe said after the decision, “but we recognized from the start that folk here (in Washington, D.C.) had been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed today.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “shut name” whether or not to jail him immediately but famous that he has complied with current situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house near 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 tackle 1000's of supporters.

Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the outcomes 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 physique digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any bodily 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 body digicam video reveals that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the appropriate side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as if 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 said he was making an attempt to move Webster back from a security perimeter that he and different officers had been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a steel flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gas mask.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel mask as a result of he wanted the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents caused by Webster, however jurors noticed 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 harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful 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 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 Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. Greater 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A decide hearing 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 doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all expenses, including interfering with officers. One in every of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Man 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 expenses, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.