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 gas masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first 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, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing tips probably will recommend a considerably shorter jail time period.

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 pick a combat 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 have been crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we had been all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” mentioned 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 right 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 Judge Amit Mehta is scheduled to sentence 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 were convicted of all prices in their respective indictments. A choose determined two other circumstances without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court docket, showed no apparent reaction to the decision.

“We’re disillusioned,” protection attorney James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “however we acknowledged from the start that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed some of this expressed immediately.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the decide agreed to let him remain free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “shut call” whether to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with present 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 “Stop 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 handle thousands of supporters.

Webster mentioned he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. But 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 before 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 exhibits that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the best side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to move Webster again 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 movement, putting a bike 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 as the chin strap on his gas mask pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel masks because he wished the officer to see his palms.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries caused by Webster, however jurors saw pictures of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster faced counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a harmful weapon; civil disorder; 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 dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of bodily 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 private 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 Department 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A decide listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. 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 fees, additionally 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.