WASHINGTON – A retired NYPD cop from Orange County has been convicted by a federal jury of assaulting a police officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The actions of Thomas Webster, 56, of the Village of Florida, and others disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Webster was found guilty in the District of Columbia of five felonies and one misdemeanor for his actions on that day.
He was the first defendant to stand trial on charges that included assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon as a felony.
According to the government’s evidence, on January 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.
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.
When sentenced in September, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
