WASHINGTON — A retired New York police officer told a jury that he act in self-defense when he tackled a police officer and grabbed his gas mask during the riots of January 6.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting Thomas Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, on all six counts in his indictment.
Webster was the first defendant to be tried on an assault charge on Jan. 6 and the first to present a jury with a self-defense argument. His conviction proved to be a harbinger of dozens of trials to follow.
Finding a viable defense at trial hasn’t been easy for the rioters who stormed the Capitol. Of the nearly 100 riot defendants who have opted for a jury trial, none have been fully acquitted.
Many have said they got caught up in the moment. Some have tried to blame their actions on former President Donald Trump and his lies about a stolen election. Others have claimed they were trying to protect themselves from overzealous police officers.
In Webster’s case, prosecutors repeatedly played footage showing him attacking a Metropolitan Police Department officer with a metal flagpole, knocking him to the ground and attempting to rip off his gas mask.
Webster testified he tried to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who punched him in the face. A juror who after the Ruling May 2022 said the videos refuted Webster’s claims of self-defense.
“I think we were all surprised that he would even make that defense argument,” the juror said. “There was no disagreement among us at all. We were unanimous in saying that there was no self-defense here at all.”
Before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta convicted him to 10 years in prison, Webster apologized to the agent, saying he wished he had never come to Washington, where he said he “got caught up in the politics and rhetoric of former President Trump.”
“I wish the events of that terrible day had never happened. People would still be alive, people would not have been hurt, families would not have been torn apart. Maybe our country would not be as divided as it is today,” Webster said.
