A Marine veteran and retired New York Police Division officer has been sentenced to 10 years in jail over his actions throughout the riot on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — the longest jail sentence handed down for any Jan. 6 defendant to this point.
Thomas Webster, 56, was arrested Feb. 21, 2021, on six expenses stemming from his violent actions on the Capitol. He was discovered responsible on all counts — all however one have been felonies — on Could 2, 2022.
In accordance with courtroom testimony and video footage, when the gang Webster was in got here throughout police barricades on the grounds of the Capitol, the previous Marine and police officer challenged Metropolitan Police Division Officer Noah Rathbun to a struggle earlier than breaking by the police barricade and assaulting him with a Marine Corps flagpole he had introduced with him. In the end, Webster tackled Rathbun to the bottom and tried to tear off his gasoline masks, choking him within the course of.
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Prosecutors had requested the court docket for a sentence of greater than 17 years “for disgracing a democracy that he as soon as fought honorably to guard and serve,” arguing that Webster confirmed up in Washington, D.C., “armed and prepared for battle.”
“Not solely did he pack his NYPD-issued bulletproof vest, however he additionally packed his ‘off obligation’ firearm … [and] his military-issued rucksack containing Meals Prepared-to-Eat, water bottles, and Gatorade,” they wrote in a sentencing memo.
Arguing in favor of a lighter sentence, Webster’s legal professionals stated that, whereas he did be part of “a violent mob,” it was “guided by unscrupulous politicians” and that “these forces championed by former President Donald Trump exerted a rare quantity of affect over these … on the Capitol on January sixth.”
His legal professionals additionally pointed to Webster’s service within the Marine Corps as a testomony to his “good character, peaceable nature and excessive ethical qualities.”
In accordance with information filed with the court docket, Webster’s service with the Marines was transient and unremarkable. He enlisted with the Marine Corps in 1985 and served for 4 years as a rifleman earlier than being discharged as a corporal. He deployed twice however earned no private awards aside from a Good Conduct Medal.
His older daughter has additionally served within the Marines, court docket paperwork present.
Webster later served for 25 years as an officer within the New York Police Division the place, in keeping with his legal professionals, he was as soon as assigned to the mayor’s non-public safety element.
Nevertheless, his legal professionals admitted that Webster’s actions on the day of the revolt have been “unmistakably violent and reprehensible” and his resume of service “belies the truth that such an individual would have recognized higher.”
CNN reported that Choose Amit Mehta, who presided over the case, stated that Webster “constructed an alternate reality” in his “totally fanciful” testimony on the stand in Could and added that his claims of self-defense have been “simply not credible” when sentencing the previous Marine on Thursday.
“I nonetheless remained shocked each time I see it,” Mehta stated, referring to the video of Webster’s assault on Rathbun; he famous a number of instances that the footage fully contradicted Webster’s personal testimony of the assault.
Webster was allowed to give up himself to jail. He has been on home arrest since serving greater than 4 months in federal custody within the early days of his trial. He was additionally sentenced to 3 years of supervised launch as soon as he serves his jail time.
— Konstantin Toropin may be reached at konstantin.toropin@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @ktoropin.
Associated: Prosecutors Ask for 17-12 months Sentence for Vet Who Assaulted a Cop with Marine Corps Flag on Jan. 6
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