WASHINGTON (AP) – On Monday, a federal jury convicted a New York City veteran of assaulting an officer during a riot in the U.S. Capitol, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he collided with a police officer and grabbed his gas mask.
Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran New York City police veteran, was the first to be tried in the Capitol riot on assault charges and the first to present a self-defense argument to the jury. Webster, who wore a face mask in court, showed no apparent reaction to the conviction, finding him guilty on all six charges against him, one of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to protect himself from an “incredible cop” who punched him in the face. He also accused Noah Rathbone, a police officer in the capital, of inciting the confrontation.
Rutban testified that he did not strike or choose to fight Webster because a violent mob attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, preventing Congress from attesting to Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election over then-President Donald Trump.
Webster’s trial was the fourth in a Capitol riot case. The first three defendants to stand trial were convicted on all charges in their respective indictments. A judge decided two other cases without jurors, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.
A grand jury charged Webster with six counts, including accusing him of attacking Ratban with a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. Webster was not charged with entering the Capitol on January 6. He is due to be sentenced on September 2.
Prosecutors demanded that Webster be detained pending sentencing, but the judge agreed to release him pending a hearing. He will be watched with an ankle bracelet. The judge said he was “close” to imprisoning him immediately, but noted that he had complied with current release conditions and had no previous convictions.
Webster drove alone to Washington, D.C., from his home near Goshen, New York, on the eve of the January 6 Stop the Theft rally. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metal pole as he approached the Capitol after listening to Trump address thousands of supporters.
Webster said he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “review” the results of the 2020 presidential election. But he said he did not intend to interfere in the joint session of Congress to certify the vote. of the Electoral College.
Rathban’s body camera filmed Webster shouting obscene words and insults before making any physical contact. Webster said he attended his first political protest as a civilian and expressed his right to free speech when he shouted at employees behind a number of bicycle stands.
Video from the body camera showed Webster hit one of the bike racks in Rathban before a police officer reached out with an open left hand and hit the right side of Webster’s face. Webster said he felt as if he had been hit by a freight train.
“It was a heavy blow and all I wanted to do was defend myself,” Webster said.
Webster also said he believed Rathban was coming after him and remembered thinking, “He’s a fraud.”
Rutban said he was trying to move Webster back from the security perimeter he and other officials are struggling to maintain.
After Ratban punched him in the face, Webster swung a metal flagpole at the officer, cutting him down, hitting a bicycle rack. Rathban grabbed Webster’s broken pole, lunged at the officer, threw him to the ground, and grabbed his gas mask.
Rathban testified that he began to choke when the gas mask chin strap pressed against his throat.
“This is not a position someone wants to be in,” Rutban said.
Webster said he grabbed Rathban by the gas mask because he wanted the officer to see his hands.
During the closing speeches of the trial, Assistant Attorney General Brian Kelly called on jurors to reject Webster’s argument in self-defense.
“Don’t let the defendant get rid of what he did that day,” Kelly said.
Defense attorney James Monroe said Webster had the right to defend himself against a “bad cop” who used excessive force.
“Stand behind the truth. And I’m talking about the whole truth, “Monroe told the jury.
Rathban reported a hand injury from a separate meeting with a rebel in the Capitol. He did not report any injuries caused by Webster, but jurors saw photos of bruises on his legs, which Rutban attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.
A detective from the capital’s police department, who is investigating, said that Ratban did not remember his meeting with Webster a few days after the riot. Rathban said seeing the video from the body camera refreshed his memory.
Webster was charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil unrest; entering and staying in prohibited places with dangerous weapons; disorderly and destructive behavior in restricted areas with dangerous weapons; committing physical violence in restricted areas with dangerous weapons; and participation in an act of physical violence on the territory of the Capitol.
Webster retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service, which included working in the private security department of then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, before joining New York City Police in 1991.
More than 780 people have been charged with federal riots. The justice ministry says more than 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement. More than 100 police officers were injured.
Two other defendants testified during the trial. Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man who was convicted by a jury for preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory, said he was following orders from then-President Donald Trump. A non-juror acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who said more police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda.
Two riot defendants did not testify during their trials before jurors convicted them of all charges, including interference by officials. One of them, Thomas Robertson, was an off-duty officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia. The other, Texas resident Guy Wesley Refit, was also convicted of storming the Capitol with a holster pistol.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated for Trump, who acquitted Martin of all charges, is also presiding over the trial of New Mexico’s official Cowie Griffin. McFadden condemned Griffin for illegally entering limited Capitol areas, but acquitted him of hooliganism.
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