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 in the course of the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare 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 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 cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, although sentencing tips likely will advocate a significantly shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to guard himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him in the face. He additionally accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or decide 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been essential 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 condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here in any respect.”

Another juror, who additionally 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial also have been convicted of all fees in their respective indictments. A choose decided two other instances without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a masks in court, confirmed no apparent reaction to the decision.

“We’re disappointed,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that people here (in Washington, D.C.) had been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed a few of this expressed at present.”

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home close to Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a steel pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump handle thousands of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.

Rathbun’s physique 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 camera video reveals that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the appropriate side of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

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

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

Rathbun testified that he began choking because the chin strap on his gas masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gas masks as a result of he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents attributable to 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 harmful 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; engaging in bodily 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 non-public security element. 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 Division says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. More than 100 officers were 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A decide listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said 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 earlier than jurors convicted them of all costs, together with interfering with officers. Certainly one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Man 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 charges, 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.