A federal jury recently found a retired New York Police Department (NYPD) officer guilty of assaulting a Metropolitan police officer during the Capitol riots.
At approximately 2:28 p.m. on January 6, 2021, retired NYPD officer and former Marine, Thomas Webster, was recorded on police body cam video shouting at police officers before shoving a metal barricade against them. In response, Metropolitan Police Officer Noah Rathbun struck Webster in the face with an open left hand.
Holding a metal flagpole bearing a red U.S. Marine Corps flag, Webster swung the metal pole at Officer Rathbun while breaking through the barricade with a mob of Trump supporters. After Rathbun pulled the flagpole out of Webster’s hands, Webster tackled him to the ground.
As Webster attempted to remove Rathbun’s helmet and gas mask, Rathbun struggled to breathe for several seconds due to his chin strap choking him.
In February 2021, Webster was arrested for assaulting Rathbun. On Monday, he was found guilty of five felonies: assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon; obstructing officers during a civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a dangerous weapon; engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a dangerous weapon, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a dangerous weapon. Webster also was found guilty of one misdemeanor, engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol building or grounds.
The charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison. The charge of obstructing officers during a civil disorder carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison. The charges of entering and remaining, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a dangerous weapon, each carry up to 10 years. The misdemeanor charge of engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol building or grounds carries a statutory maximum of six months.
Webster served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991. He retired from the NYPD in 2011.
Webster is currently scheduled to be sentenced on September 2.
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