Ex-NYPD officer charged with assault during Jan. 6 riot testifies he acted in self-defence

A retired New York Metropolis police officer charged with assaulting a police officer throughout the U.S. Capitol riot testified Thursday at his trial that he was making an attempt to defend himself towards a “rogue cop” who punched him within the face.

Thomas Webster, who took the witness stand on the third day of his federal trial, mentioned it felt like he was hit with a hammer or a freight prepare when Metropolitan Police Division officer Noah Rathbun reached out with an open left hand and struck the proper facet of Webster’s face.

“It was painful, and I used to be seeing stars,” Webster mentioned. “It was a tough hit, and all I needed to do was defend myself.”

Rathbun, one in every of dozens of officers injured on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, testified Wednesday that he did not punch or decide a combat with Webster.

A grand jury indicted Webster on six counts, together with a cost that he assaulted Rathbun with a harmful weapon, a steel flag pole. He is not accused of getting into the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Wore bulletproof vest

The trial is scheduled to renew Friday with extra testimony from Webster, who was sporting a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a steel pole when he approached the Capitol on Jan. 6..

Video from Rathbun’s physique digicam exhibits that the officer touched Webster’s chest and shoved his face after the New York man slammed a motorcycle rack at him. Rathbun mentioned he was making an attempt to maneuver Webster again from a safety perimeter that he and different officers have been struggling to keep up behind a row of steel bike racks.

After Rathbun made contact along with his face, Webster swung a steel flag pole on the officer in a downward chopping movement, putting a motorcycle rack in entrance of the officer. After Rathbun grabbed the damaged pole, Webster charged on the officer and tackled him to the bottom.

Webster, 56, mentioned he believed Rathbun was about to come back after him and recalled considering, “He is gone rogue.”

“He is performing in a way not like different law enforcement officials, and I am involved for my security,” he mentioned.

Rathbun testified that he began choking when Webster grabbed his fuel masks, urgent the chin strap towards the officer’s throat.

“That is not a place that anybody desires to be in,” Rathbun mentioned.

Webster mentioned he grabbed Rathbun by the fuel masks as a result of he needed the officer to see his fingers.

Webster’s jury trial is the fourth for a Capitol riot defendant and the sixth general. The primary three Capitol riot defendants to get a jury trial have been convicted of all costs of their respective indictments.

Webster’s trial is the primary amongst dozens of instances during which Capitol riot defendants are charged with assaulting police.

Two different defendants testified at their trials. Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man who was convicted by a jury of obstructing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory, mentioned he was following orders from then-President Donald Trump. A choose listening to testimony with out a jury acquitted Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man who mentioned outnumbered law enforcement officials allowed him and others to enter the Capitol by way of the Rotunda doorways.

Webster’s lawyer informed jurors throughout the trial’s opening statements on Tuesday that Rathbun “began this complete factor” by punching Webster. Webster mentioned Rathbun made a hand movement that he perceived as an invite to combat.

“It was surprising to see that,” Webster mentioned. “I’ve by no means witnessed a cop doing one thing like that.”

‘Distinctive second in historical past’

Webster mentioned he grew to become upset when he noticed others within the crowd who have been injured, together with a girl with blood on her face, and approached the road of law enforcement officials to study extra. Rathbun’s physique digicam captured Webster shouting profanities and insults on the officer earlier than they made any bodily contact.

“I used to be voicing my First Modification proper,” Webster mentioned.

Webster mentioned he went to the Capitol after listening to Trump’s speech to “petition” Congress to “relook” on the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election however to not disrupt the joint session for certifying the Electoral School vote.

“It was a novel second in historical past,” he mentioned.

Throughout her cross-examination of Webster, Justice Division prosecutor Katherine Nielsen confirmed him video photographs of Webster swinging the flag pole in Rathbun’s path, charging at him after which on prime of him after tackling him. She requested Webster if he noticed concern in his face in any of these photographs.

“It is anger, is not it,” she requested.

“Sure, as a result of I obtained hit,” he replied.

Rathbun reported a hand harm from a separate encounter with a rioter contained in the Capitol’s Rotunda. He did not report any accidents brought on by Webster, however jurors noticed photographs of leg bruises that Rathbun attributed to his confrontation with the retired officer.

Webster, who lives close to Goshen, New York, retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service. His division service included a stint on then-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s personal safety element. He served within the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 earlier than becoming a member of the NYPD in 1991.

Greater than 780 folks have been charged with riot-related federal crimes. The Justice Division says over 245 of them have been charged with assaulting or impeding legislation enforcement.