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 gas mask.

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 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 metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines doubtless will recommend a significantly shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him within the face. He additionally accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or choose 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 mentioned movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we were all shocked that he would even make that protection argument,” said a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here at all.”

One other juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense declare “simply 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 fees in their respective indictments. A choose determined two different instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disappointed,” protection lawyer James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that folk here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed some of this expressed at present.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him remain free until his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose stated it was a “shut call” whether or not to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with present circumstances of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his dwelling near 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 metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle 1000's of supporters.

Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on 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 School vote.

Rathbun’s body 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 bike racks.

The body 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 fitting aspect of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to move Webster again from a security perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to maintain.

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

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his fuel masks pressed towards his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks as a result of he needed 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 injuries caused by Webster, however jurors noticed 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 dangerous weapon; civil dysfunction; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking 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 detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 people 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. 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A judge hearing testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, together with interfering with officers. Considered one of 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, also 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 partaking in disorderly conduct.