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

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the primary 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, including a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines likely will recommend a considerably shorter jail time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was making an attempt to guard 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 struggle 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 have been all shocked that he would even make that defense argument,” stated a juror who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There was no dissention amongst us at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here in any respect.”

Another juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense claim “just didn’t stack up.”

U.S. District Decide 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 charges in their respective indictments. A decide determined two other cases with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a masks in courtroom, confirmed no obvious response to the verdict.

“We’re disenchanted,” defense attorney James Monroe mentioned after the verdict, “but we recognized from the beginning that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) have been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we noticed some of this expressed at present.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, however the judge agreed to let him stay free until his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The judge said it was a “close call” whether to jail him instantly but noted that he has complied with present circumstances of release 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 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 tackle thousands 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 body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any bodily 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 bike racks.

The body digital camera video exhibits that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun earlier than the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the fitting facet of Webster’s face. Webster said it felt as though he had been hit by a freight train.

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

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

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

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

Rathbun reported a hand injury from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries caused by Webster, however 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 harmful weapon; civil dysfunction; getting into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; partaking 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 non-public safety element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 people 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. More than 100 officers have 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A judge hearing testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who stated outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, together with interfering with officers. One among them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The opposite, Texas resident Guy 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 expenses, also presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally getting into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.