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 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 first 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 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 probably will suggest a considerably shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to guard 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 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 decision stated videos capturing the officer’s assault from multiple angles have been crucial evidence rebutting Webster’s self-defense argument.

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

Another juror, who additionally spoke on condition of anonymity, said 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 first three defendants to get a jury trial additionally have been convicted of all fees in their respective indictments. A decide determined two different cases with no jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the opposite.

Webster, who wore a mask in court docket, showed no obvious reaction to the decision.

“We’re upset,” protection lawyer James Monroe stated after the verdict, “but we acknowledged from the start that people here (in Washington, D.C.) have been quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I believe we noticed a few of this expressed right this moment.”

Prosecutors requested 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 mentioned it was a “shut call” whether to jail him immediately but famous that he has complied with current situations of launch 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 “Cease 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 said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. However he testified that he didn’t intend to intervene with Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral School vote.

Rathbun’s physique camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before 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 bike racks.

The physique digicam video exhibits that Webster slammed one of many bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the proper side of Webster’s face. Webster stated it felt as if he had been hit by a freight practice.

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

Rathbun mentioned he was trying to maneuver Webster back from a security perimeter that he and different officers were struggling to maintain.

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

Rathbun testified that he began choking as the chin strap on his gasoline mask pressed towards his throat. Webster stated he grabbed Rathbun by the gasoline masks because he needed the officer to see his hands.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter inside the Capitol. He didn’t report any injuries attributable to Webster, however jurors saw photos 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 disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; participating in bodily violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and fascinating 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 safety element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than joining the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 individuals 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 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, mentioned he was following orders from Trump. A choose listening to testimony and not using a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doors.

Two riot defendants didn’t testify at their trials earlier than jurors convicted them of all prices, together with 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 Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee who acquitted Martin of all fees, 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 partaking in disorderly conduct.