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 during the U.S. Capitol riot, rejecting his declare that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas mask.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the primary to current a jury with a self-defense argument.

Jurors deliberated for lower than three hours earlier than 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 cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, although sentencing pointers seemingly will suggest a considerably shorter jail 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 choose 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 stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles had been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we had been all stunned that he would even make that protection argument,” stated a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention among us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument right here at all.”

Another juror, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense claim “simply didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta is scheduled to condemn 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 additionally have been convicted of all prices in their respective indictments. A judge determined two different circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a mask in court, showed no apparent response to the decision.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense legal professional James Monroe said after the decision, “however we acknowledged from the start that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, but the decide agreed to let him stay free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge said it was a “close call” whether or not to jail him immediately but noted that he has complied with current situations of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

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

Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the results of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before 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 digital camera video shows that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the fitting side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun said he was making an attempt to move Webster back from a safety perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping movement, placing a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his fuel mask.

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

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents attributable to Webster, but jurors saw images 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 disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; participating in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and interesting 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 element. He served in 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 greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A decide listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all expenses, 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, also was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

U.S. District Choose Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all costs, 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 partaking in disorderly conduct.