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| Photo Credit: AP. |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired New York Police Department officer was sentenced on Thursday to a record-setting 10 years in prison for attacking the U.S. Capitol and using a metal flagpole to assault one of the police officers trying to hold off a mob of Donald Trump supporters.
Thomas
Webster’s prison sentence is the longest so far among roughly 250 people who
have been punished for their conduct during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The
previous longest was shared by two other rioters, who were sentenced separately
to seven years and three months in prison.
Webster, a
20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried on an
assault charge and the first to present a self-defense argument. A jury
rejected Webster’s claim that he was defending himself when he tackled
Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun and grabbed his gas mask
outside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
U.S.
District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Webster, 56, to 10 years in prison plus
three years of supervised release. He allowed Webster to report to prison at a
date to be determined instead of immediately ordering him into custody.
“Mr.
Webster, I don’t think you’re a bad person,” the judge said. “I think you were
caught up in a moment. But as you know, even getting caught up in a moment has
consequences.”
Webster
turned to apologize to Rathbun, who was in the courtroom but didn’t address the
judge. Webster said he wishes he had never come to Washington, D.C.
“I wish the
horrible events of that day had never happened,” he told the judge.
The judge
said Rathbun wasn’t Webster’s only victim on Jan. 6.
“The other
victim was democracy, and that is not something that can be taken lightly,”
Mehta added.
Federal
prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 17 years and six months. The
court’s probation department had recommended a 10-year prison sentence. Mehta
wasn’t bound by the recommendations.
In a court
filing, prosecutors accused Webster of “disgracing a democracy that he once
fought honorably to protect and serve.” Webster led the charge against police
barricades at the Capitol’s Lower West Plaza, prosecutors said. They compared
the attack to a medieval battle, with rioters pelting officers with makeshift
projectiles and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
“Nothing can
explain or justify Mr. Webster’s rage. Nothing can explain or justify his
violence,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hava Mirell said Thursday.
Defense
attorney James Monroe said in a court filing that the mob was “guided by
unscrupulous politicians” and others promoting the lie that the 2020
presidential election was stolen from the Republican incumbent. He questioned
why prosecutors argued that Webster didn’t deserve leniency for his 25 years of
service to his country and New York City.
“That is not
how we measure justice. That is revenge,” Monroe said.
In May,
jurors deliberated for less than three hours before they convicted Webster of
all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Rathbun
with a dangerous weapon, the flagpole.
Also
Thursday, a New Jersey man pleaded guilty to using pepper spray on police
officers, including one who later died. Officer Brian Sicknick suffered a
stroke the day after the riot and died of natural causes. He and other officers
were standing guard behind metal bicycle racks as the mob of pro-Trump supporters
stormed the Capitol.
Julian
Khater, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting or impeding officers
with a dangerous weapon. He could face up to 20 years in prison, though will
likely face a sentence ranging from about 6 1/2 to 8 years at a hearing set for
December.
The case
against Khater and a second man have been among the more notable brought by the
Justice Department. George Pierre Tanios brought the pepper spray in a
backpack. Tanios previously pleaded guilty and is also set to be sentenced in
December.
Webster had
testified at trial that he was trying to protect himself from a “rogue cop” who
punched him in the face. He also accused Rathbun of instigating the confrontation.
Rathbun
testified that he didn’t punch or pick a fight with Webster. Rathbun said he
was trying to move Webster back from a security perimeter that he and other
officers were struggling to maintain.
Rathbun’s
body camera captured Webster shouting profanities and insults before they made
any physical contact. The video shows that Webster slammed one of the bike
racks at Rathbun before the officer reached out with an open left hand and
struck the right side of Webster’s face.
After
Rathbun struck his face, Webster swung a metal flag pole at the officer in a
downward chopping motion, striking a bike rack. Rathbun grabbed the broken pole
from Webster, who charged at the officer, tackled him to the ground and grabbed
his gas mask, choking him by the chin strap.
Webster
drove alone to Washington, D.C., from his home near Goshen, New York, on the
eve of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally, where Trump addressed thousands of
supporters. Webster was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a Marine Corps
flag on a metal pole when he joined the mob that stormed the Capitol.
Webster said
he went to the Capitol to “petition” lawmakers to “relook” at the results of
the 2020 presidential election. But he testified that he didn’t intend to
interfere with Congress’ joint session to certify President Joe Biden ’s
victory.
Webster
retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service, which included a stint
on then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s private security detail. He served in the
U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991.
Associated
Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.