The federal court jury said Monday Thomas Webster -a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer and former Marine-pleaded guilty to six counts, including assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon in the January 2021 Capitol Riot, which dismissed the defense argument in himself he used.
He was more specifically accused, in particular, of assaulting police noah rathbunfrom the Metropolitan Department of the Federal Capital with a metal flagpole, on January 6, 2021, when about 10,000 supporters of former President Donald Trump thronged the perimeter of the Capitol and several hundred of them stormed the Congress headquarters.
Less than three hours later the jurors considered the verdict on all counts against the 56-year-old man who worked 20 years in NYPD.
Two jurors who requested anonymity told reporters that videos exposing the attack from multiple angles became primary evidence to refute the defendant’s self-defense argument, the Associated Press reported.
” I think we were all surprised that he made the self -defense argument. There is no dispute between us. We are unanimous in agreeing that there is no argument of self-defense here at all. “
Court documents include this video (shown here by a CBS reporter):
The trial will begin at 9:30 am on April 2, 2022 in the high -profile riot case in the U.S. Capitol against former NY police officer Thomas Webster
Webster pleaded NOT GUILTY to attack police, along with a flagpole
(short exhibit from the case ==>) pic.twitter.com/QxDpXpDXtU
– Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 11, 2021
Presenting the victim as the instigator of the confrontation, Thomas Webster he was called a unscrupulous police who just punched him in the face, saying he himself had just tried to protect himself.
The former police officer was the fourth defendant to have had a jury trial, but was the first to respond to a law enforcement assault charge.
He has also been convicted of civil disorder, disorderly conduct within precincts or buildings of the Capitol, committing physical violence in these areas, entering a building or a restricted area with a fatal or dangerous weapons, disruptive behavior and physical. violence.
The sentence is set for Sept. 2. The assault case alone has a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Nearly 800 individuals were charged
The latest U.S. Justice Department report, released last month, indicates that nearly 800 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the attack on the Capitol. More than 250 of them have been accused of assaulting police officers or obstructing their work.
Nearly 150 police officers were attacked, according to the Justice Department.
The other three defendants tried by the jury were found guilty in their respective cases they faced. A judge who presided over two trials without a jury acquitted one of the defendants and partially acquitted the other.
Nearly 250 people further pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, from misdemeanors to criminal obstruction.
Four police officers who participated in the Capitol defense gave very emotional testimonies, in July 2021, as they appeared before the special committee of the House of Representatives investigating the assault on Congressional headquarters. Testifying in disturbing detail on the violence that day, one of them said he had the impression of going to hell for […] protect the elect.
A few months earlier, former Capitol security officials had also described the most violent scenes in their testimony before two congressional Senate committees, one of whom said “these criminals” – the rioters – will “come ready for war”.
Source: Radio-Canada
