NYPD veteran convicted of assaulting officer in 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 claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the officer and grabbed his gas 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 present a jury with a selfdefense argument.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. The assault charge alone is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines likely will recommend a significantly shorter prison term.

Webster, 56, testified that he was trying to protect 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 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 said videos capturing the officer's assault from multiple angles were crucial evidence rebutting Webster's self-defense argument.

"I guess we were 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 at all. We unanimously agreed that there was no self-defense argument here at all."

Another juror, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Webster's self-defense claim "just didn't stack up."

U.S. District Judge 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 charges in their respective indictments. A judge decided two other cases without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and partially acquitting the other.

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

"We're disappointed," defense attorney James Monroe said after the verdict, "but we recognized from the beginning that folks here (in Washington, D.C.) were quite traumatized by what transpired on Jan. 6. And I think we saw some of this expressed today."

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

Webster drove alone to Washington from his home near 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 metal pole when he approached the Capitol, after listening to Trump address thousands of supporters.

Webster said he went to the Capitol to "petition" lawmakers to "relook" at the results of the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn't intend to interfere with Congress' joint session to certify the Electoral College vote.