WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal jury Monday convicted a New York Police Department veteran of assaulting an officer. The U.S. Capitol Uprising denied his statement that he was defending himself when he confronted the officer and removed his gas mask.
The first is Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Capitol Uprising Defendant must be tried on assault cases and first present a defensive argument to the jury.
Webster, 56, Witnesses he tried to defend himself From a “rogue cop” who punched him in the face. He also accused Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Ratbun of inciting controversy.
Ratbuni Confirmed He Did Not Punch Him Or Choose to Oppose Webster when a Violent Crowd Attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, preventing Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election against the former President Donald Trump.
Webster’s jury trial is the fourth for the Capitolium riot case. The first three defendants, admitted by the jury, were tried in all cases in their respective indictments. The judge decided two more cases without a jury, acquitting one of the defendants and the other partially.
The grand jury charged Wester with six counts, including one for attacking Ratbun with a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. Webster was not charged with entering the Capitol on Jan. 6.
This is a news update. Below is the previous AP story.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Jurors heard the federal trial Monday of a New York Police Department veteran accused of assaulting an officer trying to protect the Capitol. The attacker was a rebellious mob last year.
Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran of the New York police force, was the first defendant for surrender disorder to be tried in an assault case and the first to present a defensive argument to a jury.
The jury heard the lawyers’ latest arguments on Friday and went home over the weekend, about 30 minutes after receiving the case. They returned to court on Monday morning.
Webster’s jury trial, which began April 26, is the fourth case in the Capitol uprising case. The first three defendants, admitted by the jury, were tried in all cases in their respective indictments. The judge decided two more cases without a jury, one acquitted the accused and the other partially acquitted him at the end of the trial.
Webster, 56, is accused of assaulting Noah Ratbun, a Metropolitan Police Department officer, using a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole, during an uprising on Jan. 6, 2021.
Videos show Wester waving his metal flagpole at police, shooting Ratbun and then holding an officer’s gas mask with both hands.
Webster witnessed on Thursday that he was trying to protect himself from Ratbun after the officer punched him in the face. Webster also accused Ratbun of a hand gesture that Webster thought of as an invitation to protest.
Ratbuni confirmed that he did not punch him or choose to fight Webster. Rathbun’s body camera saw Wester shout obscene words and insults before they had physical contact. Ratbun said he was trying to get Wester back from the security perimeter he was trying to keep and the other officers.
Prosecutors called on the jury to reject Wester’s defense in the argument and try him on all six counts in his indictment.
Webster, who lives near Goshen, New York, resigned from the NYPD in 2011. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, before joining the NYPD in 1991.
The violent mob on Jan. 6, loyal to former President Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol to overthrow the 2020 presidential election, undermine the nation’s democracy and prevent Democrat Joe Biden from replacing the Republican in the White House.
More than 780 people have been charged with federal offenses. The Justice Department said more than 245 of them were charged with violence or obstruction of law enforcement.
Source: Huffpost
