Former NYPD officer found guilty of assaulting law enforcement during Capitol Riot

Looking back on Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

January 6 marks one year since the U.S. Capitol riot, when pro-Donald Trump rioters charged the steps as Congress began counting the Electoral College votes.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A retired New York Police Department officer was found guilty on Monday by a federal jury of assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Thomas Webster, 56, of the village of Florida, New York, was found guilty in D.C. of five felonies and one misdemeanor for his actions on January 6. He was the first defendant to stand trial on charges that included assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon, a felony.

According to the government’s evidence, on Jan. 6, at approximately 2:28 p.m., Webster was among rioters on the other side of metal barricades set up by law enforcement officers attempting to secure the Lower West Terrace area of the Capitol.

Webster – who was carrying a large metal flagpole with a red U.S. Marine Corps flag – approached an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department who was behind the metal gates. Webster pointed his finger at the officer and began swearing at him, telling him, among other things to "take your sh--- off," an apparent invitation to the officer to take off his badge and fight.

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Webster then aggressively shoved the metal gate into the officer’s body. He raised the flagpole and forcefully swung it toward the officer. The officer managed to wrest the flagpole away. Webster, however, then broke through the metal barricade, tackled the officer to the ground, and tried to remove his helmet and gas mask, choking him. During this attack, the officer struggled to breathe.

Webster was arrested on Feb. 21, 2021. He is to be sentenced on Sept. 2, 2022.

He was found guilty 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.

The charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. The charge of obstructing officers during a civil disorder carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison. The charges of entering and remaining, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a dangerous weapon, each carry up to 10 years. The misdemeanor charge of engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol building or grounds carries a statutory maximum of six months. The charges also carry potential financial penalties.

In the 15 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

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