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 through the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim 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 primary 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, including a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing tips possible will advocate a considerably shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to guard 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 stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we have been all shocked that he would even make that protection argument,” stated a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here at all.”

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

U.S. District Judge 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 additionally have been convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A judge determined two different cases with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a masks in court, confirmed no apparent response to the decision.

“We’re disappointed,” protection lawyer James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “however we recognized from the beginning that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw a few of this expressed today.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the choose agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge said it was a “close name” whether or not to jail him immediately but famous that he has complied with present situations of launch 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 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 address hundreds of supporters.

Webster said 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 digital camera 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 bike racks.

The physique digital camera video reveals 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 facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun stated he was attempting to maneuver Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and other officers had been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping movement, putting a motorbike 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 started choking because the chin strap on his gas mask pressed against his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask because he wished the officer to see his arms.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents caused 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 utilizing a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; engaging in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 personal safety element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More 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 legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers were injured.

Two different 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 listening to testimony and not using a 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 earlier than jurors convicted them of all charges, including interfering with officers. One among them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, also was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all charges, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.