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

Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first 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, together with a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, although sentencing pointers possible will suggest a considerably shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to protect 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 decide a fight 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 proof rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I assume we were all stunned that he would even make that defense argument,” stated 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 right here in any respect.”

Another juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Webster’s self-defense declare “simply 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial also were convicted of all costs in their respective indictments. A judge determined two other circumstances without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

Webster, who wore a mask in courtroom, confirmed no apparent reaction to the decision.

“We’re upset,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the verdict, “however we recognized from the start that people right here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed some of this expressed at this time.”

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his dwelling 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 metallic 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 outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to intrude with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s body digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults earlier than they made any physical 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 camera video shows that Webster slammed one of the 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 stated it felt as though he had been hit by a freight prepare.

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

Rathbun said he was attempting to maneuver Webster again from a safety 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 broken pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gas masks.

Rathbun testified that he started choking because the chin strap on his gas mask pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask as a result of he needed the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand damage 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 dysfunction; entering 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 fascinating 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 security element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

More than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says greater than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement. Greater 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, stated he was following orders from Trump. A decide hearing testimony without a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all fees, together with interfering with officers. Certainly one of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Guy Wesley Reffitt, additionally was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered handgun.

U.S. District Decide Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all prices, 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 engaging in disorderly conduct.