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 first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge 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 cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines doubtless will suggest a significantly shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was attempting to guard himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him in the face. He also 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 verdict stated movies capturing the officer’s assault from a number of angles were crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, mentioned 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial additionally had been convicted of all expenses of their respective indictments. A choose determined two other instances with out a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

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

“We’re disappointed,” protection attorney James Monroe stated after the decision, “but we acknowledged from the beginning that folks right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I feel we saw some of this expressed in the present day.”

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his house 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 metal 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” at the results of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to intrude with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.

Rathbun’s physique digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than 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 motorcycle racks.

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

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

Rathbun mentioned he was attempting to maneuver Webster again from a security perimeter that he and different officers had been struggling to keep up.

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

Rathbun testified that he began choking because the chin strap on his fuel masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gas masks as a result of he wanted the officer to see his fingers.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any accidents brought on by Webster, but jurors noticed 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 disorder; coming into and remaining in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a harmful weapon; participating in physical violence in restricted grounds with a harmful 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 element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

More 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 law enforcement. More than 100 officers had 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, said he was following orders from Trump. A decide hearing testimony with out 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, including interfering with officers. One among them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, also 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, additionally 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 participating in disorderly conduct.