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 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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault cost and the primary 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 Department officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines seemingly will advocate a considerably shorter prison time period.

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 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 stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles have been essential proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we were all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” mentioned a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us in any respect. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here at all.”

One other juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster’s self-defense declare “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Judge 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 have been convicted of all expenses in their respective indictments. A decide determined two other circumstances and not using a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court docket, showed no obvious response to the verdict.

“We’re disillusioned,” protection legal professional James Monroe stated after the decision, “however we recognized from the start that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we saw a few of this expressed immediately.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the choose agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge mentioned it was a “close name” whether or not to jail him instantly but noted that he has complied with current circumstances of release and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his dwelling 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 metallic pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump tackle hundreds of supporters.

Webster mentioned 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 intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.

Rathbun’s physique 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 motorbike racks.

The body 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 stated it felt as though he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting 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 metallic flag pole at 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 bottom and grabbed his fuel masks.

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

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries caused by Webster, but jurors saw pictures 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; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; and fascinating 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 element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before 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 regulation enforcement. Greater than 100 officers had been 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 decide hearing testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol via the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. Considered 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 Judge 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 entering restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of participating in disorderly conduct.