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 claim 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 present 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, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division 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 probably will recommend a significantly shorter jail time period.

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

Rathbun testified that he didn’t punch or decide a combat 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 decision mentioned movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we have been all stunned that he would even make that defense argument,” mentioned a juror who spoke on situation of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here in any respect.”

One other juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense declare “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 have been convicted of all expenses in their respective indictments. A decide determined two other cases with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a mask in court, confirmed no apparent response to the verdict.

“We’re dissatisfied,” protection legal professional James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed a few of this expressed at this time.”

Prosecutors asked 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 stated it was a “shut name” whether to jail him instantly however famous that he has complied with current situations 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 “Cease 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 handle thousands of supporters.

Webster said 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 intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any bodily 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 motorcycle racks.

The physique digital camera video shows 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 though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun stated he was attempting to move Webster again from a security perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping movement, hanging a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gas mask.

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 gasoline mask because he wished the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents caused by Webster, but jurors noticed photos of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster confronted counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer utilizing a dangerous weapon; civil dysfunction; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in physical 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 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 folks 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. 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A choose listening to testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by means of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. One in all them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Man 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 charges, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally entering restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.