It took under two hours of deliberatation for jurors who heard the case of Thomas Webster, a former NYPD cop charged in the violent attack on the Capitol. He was convicted on all charges. Webster was one of the goons caught on camera assaulting cops with a metal flagpole.
Absurdly, he claimed self-defense at trial, testifying that the cops defending the building were mistreating peaceful protesters. The jury didn’t buy it, and the NYT says the speed with which Webster was convicted may give other violent insurrectionists pause about going to trial instead of entering a plea deal.
As [Webster] approached the barricades that surrounded the building, he told the jury, a Metropolitan Police Department officer, Noah Rathbun, provoked him with a brief wave then threw a punch at him that struck him like a “freight train.”
But videos played by the prosecution cast doubt on this account, showing Mr. Webster emerging from the crowd and berating officers at the barricades in a state of foul-mouthed rage. Mr. Webster could be seen in the videos repeatedly pushing at the barricades, then swinging a flagpole at Officer Rathbun before he shoved through the police line and tackled the officer.
The Times also notes that at around the same time Webster was convicted, in a nearby DC courtroom, another insurrectionist who had pleaded guilty to assaulting cops during the riot was sentenced to 27 months in prison. The Justice Department is now 4-0 on all the trials completed related to the January 6 assault on the Capitol complex.
Open thread.