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 gas 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 lower than three hours before 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 dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault charge 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 attempting 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 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 stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles have been crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we were all stunned that he would even make that protection argument,” mentioned 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 here at all.”

Another juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense claim “simply 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 fees of their respective indictments. A decide determined two different circumstances without a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re dissatisfied,” protection attorney James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “but we recognized from the beginning that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, however the decide agreed to let him remain free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose stated it was a “close call” whether to jail him instantly however noted that he has complied with current circumstances of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house close to 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 tackle hundreds of supporters.

Webster mentioned he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results 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 body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any bodily 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 physique camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the precise aspect 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 mentioned.

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to keep up.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic 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 bottom and grabbed his gasoline masks.

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his fuel mask pressed against his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the gas masks because he wished the officer to see his fingers.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents attributable to Webster, but jurors saw photos 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; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and engaging 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 private safety detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater 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 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A decide hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol via the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all costs, together with interfering with officers. One in every 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 Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all prices, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.