Local resident released after being convicted of assaulting a police officer

Village of Florida resident Thomas Webster was one of the people pardoned by President Donald Trump last week for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Webster is a retired member of the New York Police Department and a former marine. His was arrested on Feb. 21, 2021, and his trial started in April 2022. He was found guilty by a jury on May 2, 2022, 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.” He also was found guilty of one misdemeanor: “engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol building or grounds,” per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Webster was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an assault charge and the first to present a self-defense argument. The jury rejected Webster’s claim that he was defending himself when he tackled Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun and grabbed his gas mask outside the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, the flagpole.

During the court proceedings, Webster turned to apologize to Rathbun, who was in the courtroom but didn’t address the judge. Webster said he wishes he had never come to Washington, D.C.

“I wish the horrible events of that day had never happened,’’ he told the judge.

Webster had testified at trial 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. Rathbun said he was trying to move Webster back from a security perimeter that he and other officers were struggling to maintain.

Rathbun’s body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made any physical contact. The video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and struck the right side of Webster’s face.

After Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole at the officer in a downward chopping motion, striking a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed his gas mask, choking him by the chin strap.

Webster drove alone to Washington, D.C., from his Florida, New York, home on the eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally, where Trump addressed thousands of supporters. Webster was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metal pole when he joined the mob that stormed the Capitol.

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 President Joe Biden’s victory.

Webster retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service, which included a stint on then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s private security detail. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.

In May of last year, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Webster’s claims that he was convicted by a biased jury and upheld his 10-year prison sentence. As reported by The Associated Press, Trump nominated two of the three judges who decided Webster’s appeal.