Thomas Webster, a 20-year-old New York veteran, has been convicted of all six charges he faces after two hours of jury hearings. Webster, 56, testified last week that he was trying to protect himself from a “rogue” police officer who punched him in the face. He also accused Metropolitan Police Officer Noah Rathbun of inciting the controversy. Rathbun testified that he did not punch or choose to fight Webster as a violent mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election against then-President D. Webster took a stand on his defense last week. He said he felt as if he had been hit by a hammer or a freight train when Rathbun reached out with an open left hand and struck the right side of Webster’s face. “It was painful and I was seeing stars,” Webster said. “It was a hard blow and all I wanted to do was defend myself.” Rathbun, one of dozens of officers wounded at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, testified that he did not punch or fight Webster. A major court has convicted Webster of six counts, including assaulting Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a metal flagpole. Webster was not charged with entering the Capitol on January 6. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2.

Webster’s jury trial is the fourth for a Capitol riot suspect. The first three defendants in the Capitol riots who were tried by jurors were convicted on all charges in the respective indictments, while other defendants pleaded guilty. Webster was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a U.S. Marine Corps flag on a metal pole as he approached the Capitol that day. Video from Rathbun’s body camera shows the officer touching Webster’s chest and pushing his face after the New Yorker hit a bike rack against him. Rathbun said he was trying to move Webster behind a security perimeter that he and other officers were trying to keep behind a series of metal bicycle racks. CLOCKS WARNING: The video contains violence. Video with body camera shows the moment of the attack:

Attack by former New York police officer on Capitol Uprising recorded on body camera video

WARNING: This video contains violence. The video from the police body camera shows the moment when a retired New York police officer, Thomas Webster, allegedly attacked a police officer who was working to stop the rioters on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021. 1:18
After Rathbun came in contact with his face, Webster waved a metal flagpole at the officer with a downward motion, hitting a bicycle rack in front of the officer. After Rathbun grabbed the broken pole, Webster attacked the officer and threw him to the ground. Webster said he thought Rathbun was going to follow him and recalled thinking, “He’s a scammer.” “He behaves in a way unlike other police officers and I’m worried about my safety,” he said. Rathbun testified that he started drowning when Webster grabbed his gas mask, pressing the chin strap around the policeman’s neck. “This is not a place you want to be,” Rathbun said.

“A unique moment in history”: defendant

Webster said he snatched Rathbun from the gas mask because he wanted the officer to see his hands. Webster said he went to the Capitol after hearing Trump speak in Congress to “reconsider” the results of the 2020 presidential election, but not to interrupt the joint meeting to certify the Electoral College vote. “It was a unique moment in history,” he said. Webster, who lives near Goshen, New York, retired from the NYPD in 2011 after 20 years of service. His department’s service included a term in charge of the private security of then-mayor Michael Bloomberg. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 before joining the NYPD in 1991. Webster’s trial was the first of dozens of cases in which he was charged with rioting in the Capitol for assaulting police. More than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes related to riots. The Justice Department says more than 245 of them have been charged with assault or obstruction of law enforcement.

The Jan. 6 committee wants to hear from the Republican trio

As these criminal investigations continue, the Democratic-led House of Commons is investigating the U.S. Capitol Uprising, examining who may have supported Trump’s desperate attempt to stay in power. Three other Republicans in parliament received requests Monday to appear before the congressional committee on a voluntary basis – Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Ronnie Jackson, three members of the far-right Freedom House, who have joined Trump in recent years. The Selection Committee requested the cooperation of three additional members of the House of Representatives:• Representative Andy Biggs• Representative Mo BrooksRepresentative Ronny Jackson pic.twitter.com/ioB1rGxAG5 – @ January6thCmte
The nine-member committee is asking members of Congress to testify about their participation in White House meetings, direct talks with Trump as he sought to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, and the planning and coordination of rallies before and after from 6 January 2021. “A significant number of House members and a small number of senators appear to have had more than a temporary role to play in what happened,” Bennie Thompson, a Democrat chair of the Jan. 6 committee, told the Associated Press last week. The committee plans to hold a round of public hearings in June.