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 gasoline masks.

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 earlier than they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, together with a cost that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metallic flagpole. The assault cost alone is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail, though sentencing tips probably will suggest a significantly shorter prison time period.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying 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 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 videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles had been essential evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

“I guess we have been all surprised that he would even make that defense 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 here at all.”

One other juror, who also spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned Webster’s self-defense claim “simply 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 had been convicted of all expenses in their respective indictments. A judge determined two other circumstances with no jury, acquitting one of many defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court, confirmed no apparent response to the decision.

“We’re dissatisfied,” protection legal professional James Monroe said after the verdict, “however we recognized from the beginning that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) had been fairly traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we noticed some of this expressed immediately.”

Prosecutors asked for Webster to be detained, but the choose agreed to let him remain free till his sentencing. He’ll continue to be monitored with an ankle bracelet. The decide said it was a “shut name” whether or not to jail him immediately 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 dwelling close to Goshen, New York, on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. He was wearing 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 said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the results of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral Faculty vote.

Rathbun’s physique digital camera 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 motorcycle racks.

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

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

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

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping movement, striking a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole from Webster, who charged on the officer, tackled him to the bottom and grabbed his gas masks.

Rathbun testified that he started choking as the chin strap on his fuel masks pressed in opposition to his throat. Webster said he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline mask because 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 caused by Webster, but jurors saw photographs of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster faced counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using 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 dangerous weapon; partaking in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous 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 security element. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 people 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. Greater than 100 officers were 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 choose listening to testimony with no jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, together with interfering with officers. 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 costs, additionally presided over a bench trial for New Mexico elected official Couy Griffin. McFadden convicted Griffin of illegally coming into restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct.