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

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost and the primary 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 dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing guidelines possible will recommend a considerably shorter prison 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 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 said movies capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles were essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I suppose we have been 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 here at all.”

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

Webster, who wore a masks in court, showed no apparent response to the verdict.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense lawyer James Monroe stated after the decision, “but we recognized from the start that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed some of this expressed at present.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, but the choose agreed to let him stay free until his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose stated it was a “close name” whether to jail him immediately however noted that he has complied with current conditions 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 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was sporting a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a steel pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump tackle 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated 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 College vote.

Rathbun’s body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical 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 physique digital 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 appropriate aspect of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to maneuver Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to take care of.

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

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his gasoline masks pressed against his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gas mask as a result of he needed 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 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; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful 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 earlier than becoming a member of 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 law enforcement. More 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 stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all costs, together with interfering with officers. One in all 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 Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all expenses, 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 participating in disorderly conduct.