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 declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his fuel masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost 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, together with a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing tips likely will advocate a significantly shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying 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 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we had been all stunned that he would even make that protection 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 here in any respect.”

Another juror, who also spoke on condition 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 also have been convicted of all expenses of their respective indictments. A choose decided two different instances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court, confirmed no obvious reaction to the decision.

“We’re disenchanted,” defense attorney James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the beginning that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed some of this expressed as we speak.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him stay free until his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge mentioned it was a “close call” whether to jail him instantly but famous that he has complied with present situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home 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 steel pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump deal with 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at 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 College vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical contact. Webster stated 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 digital camera video exhibits 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 side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun said he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and other officers had been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, putting a motorcycle rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel mask.

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask because he wanted the officer to see his palms.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on by Webster, but 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 disorder; entering 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 personal safety element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 people have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement. More than 100 officers have 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 judge listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all expenses, together with interfering with officers. One of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, 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 coming into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.