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 fuel masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary 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 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 steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, although sentencing tips probably will suggest a significantly shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him within the face. He also 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 verdict said videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles have been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense declare “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 primary three defendants to get a jury trial additionally were convicted of all prices of their respective indictments. A decide determined two different instances and not using a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a masks in court docket, confirmed no obvious response to the decision.

“We’re dissatisfied,” defense legal professional James Monroe said after the decision, “but we recognized from the beginning that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) had been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed a few of this expressed at the moment.”

Prosecutors requested for Webster to be detained, but the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide stated it was a “shut call” whether to jail him immediately but famous that he has complied with current conditions of release 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 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 tackle 1000's 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 intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any physical contact. Webster stated 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 body digital camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the precise aspect of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.

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

Rathbun stated he was making an attempt to move Webster again from a security perimeter that he and other officers have been struggling to take care of.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, striking a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his fuel mask.

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his gas masks pressed in opposition to 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 inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents caused by Webster, but jurors saw photographs of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster faced counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer utilizing a harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 personal security detail. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 individuals 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. Greater than 100 officers have 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 decide listening to testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said 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 prices, together with interfering with officers. One of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, additionally 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, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally coming into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of partaking in disorderly conduct.