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 fuel masks.

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first 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 less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including 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 up to 20 years in jail, although sentencing guidelines likely will advocate a considerably shorter jail 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 pick a battle 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 multiple angles had been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

One other juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense declare “just 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 prices in their respective indictments. A choose decided two other instances without a jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

“We’re disenchanted,” protection attorney James Monroe said after the verdict, “however we recognized from the beginning that folk here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw a few of this expressed right now.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll proceed to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge said it was a “shut call” whether to jail him instantly but famous that he has complied with current conditions of launch and doesn’t have any prior convictions.

Webster drove alone to Washington from his residence near Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was sporting a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metal pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump address 1000's of supporters.

Webster stated 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 body digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical 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 bike racks.

The body camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the fitting aspect of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun said he was trying to move Webster back from a security perimeter that he and different officers have been struggling to maintain.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metallic flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping motion, striking a motorbike rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gas masks.

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed against his throat. Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel masks as a result of he needed the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, however jurors noticed photographs 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 harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a harmful 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 individuals have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Department says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. More 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 judge listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered cops allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors.

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 Decide 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 getting into restricted Capitol grounds however acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.