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 through the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost and the first to current 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, together with a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines seemingly will advocate a considerably shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt to guard 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 pick a fight 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles were crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

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

U.S. District Decide 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 had been convicted of all prices in their respective indictments. A choose decided two other instances with no 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 verdict.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense legal professional James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “however we recognized from the start that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw a few of this expressed right now.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “close name” whether or not to jail him immediately however noted that he has complied with present circumstances 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 metal pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle 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 intervene 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 motorcycle racks.

The physique camera 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 correct side of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers had been struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, hanging a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gas masks pressed towards his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he wished the officer to see his arms.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, however jurors noticed photos 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 disorder; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful 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 security detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement. More 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 choose hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all expenses, together with interfering with officers. Certainly one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Man 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 prices, additionally 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 engaging in disorderly conduct.