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 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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge 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 charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, although sentencing guidelines doubtless will recommend a significantly shorter jail time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to guard 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 pick 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 verdict stated videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles were 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 situation of anonymity. “There was no dissention among us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here at all.”

Another juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense declare “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose 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 have been convicted of all costs of their respective indictments. A decide decided two different circumstances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

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

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense attorney James Monroe stated after the verdict, “however we acknowledged from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed at the moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “shut call” whether or not to jail him immediately however famous that he has complied with current conditions 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 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 tackle thousands 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 interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any physical contact. Webster said 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 body digicam video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the proper side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to move Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, putting a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on 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 fuel masks as a result of he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on by Webster, but 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 using a harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and interesting 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 non-public safety detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before becoming a member of 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 law enforcement. Greater than 100 officers had been 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 choose listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered law enforcement officials 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 prices, together with interfering with officers. One among 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 prices, 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.