NYPD veteran convicted of assaulting officer in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal jury on Monday convicted a New York Police Department veteran of assaulting an officer throughout 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, together with a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in jail, though sentencing guidelines likely will recommend a considerably shorter jail term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt 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 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles have been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we were all surprised 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 here in any respect.”

One other juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said 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 primary three defendants to get a jury trial also were convicted of all expenses of their respective indictments. A decide decided two other circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disenchanted,” defense lawyer James Monroe mentioned after the decision, “but we recognized from the beginning that folk right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the choose agreed to let him remain free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The choose mentioned it was a “shut name” whether or not to jail him instantly but noted that he has complied with present circumstances 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 carrying a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump deal with thousands of supporters.

Webster stated he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on 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 Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than 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 motorbike racks.

The physique digicam 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 proper side of Webster’s face. Webster mentioned it felt as though he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun said he was trying to move Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and different officers had been struggling to take care of.

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

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

Rathbun reported a hand damage from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries brought on by 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 utilizing a harmful weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; partaking in physical 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 personal security detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. Greater 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A judge hearing testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said 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 expenses, together with interfering with officers. Considered one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Man 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 expenses, 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 participating in disorderly conduct.