Former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster, who tried to convince a Washington DC jury that he was only acting in self-defense against an officer he attacked on January 6 outside the Capitol , was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Webster’s ruling would be the longest of all the January 6 defendants thus far.
In footage shown at trial, the former officer and former Marine can be seen waving a metal flagpole at DC Agent Noah Rahbun before crossing the Capitol’s police barricades and tackle him, strangling him with the official’s chin strap.
In the month of greater, Webster, of 56 years old, was found guilty of the six charges he faced, five of them felonies, These include assaulting a police officer and violent and disorderly conduct.
“It was not until you arrived, Mr. Webster, that all hell broke loose,” Judge Amit Mehta declared of the police line that the former NYPD officer broke.
“I still get surprised every time I see it,” Mehta said about the video played in court. “Nobody pushed you forward, you ran,” he added, pointing out several times how the audiovisual material completely contradicted Webster’s own testimony about the attack.
“You constructed an alternative truth,” said Mehta about Webster’s testimony in May, adding that his self-defense claims were “simply not credible” calling his testimony “completely fanciful.”
The Marine Corps veteran asked the judge in tears before the sentence was handed down “mercy” and stated that he “didn’t have the courage to hold back” on January 6.
“I will never be able to look at my children the same way again,” declared Webster. “The way they look at me is different now… I was their hero until January 6.”
Officer Rathbun, who was dressed in his police uniform, attended the hearing and sat in the back of the courtroom.
Webster turned to Rathbun apologized to him, saying he was sorry.
In the sentence, the prosecutors indicated that the ex-officer carried a firearm with him to Washington DC, which he left behind on the day of the assault on the Capitol and used a bulletproof vest provided by the Congressional police.
In addition, the jury accepted the prosecutors’ contention that Webster had “led” an attack on police lines and that he was responsible for “dishonoring a democracy once fought for with honor to protect and serve.”
“Despite his background and training, Webster made no attempt to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises,” the Justice Department wrote in court documents. “Webster spent eight minutes elbowing his way through the densely packed crowd so he could position himself at the front of the crowd.”
The court agreed to suspend the last 36 of Webster’s sentence in deference to his 25 years of service as a police officer and soldier.
James Monroe , Webster’s attorney, said in a court brief that his client’s actions, which he had previously claimed were self-defense and justified, were now “unequivocally violent and reprehensible,” calling them “unspeakable.”
The lawyer told the judge that his client should be sentenced to time served for what he called “seconds of stupidity.”
“He’s a decent guy,” Monroe said.
Likewise, he blamed former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party for turning Webster and “decent and law-abiding people against his fellow citizens.”
More than 850 people have been charged with different penalties for their participation in the assault.
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