There were many eccentric characters who participated in the Jan. 6 riot. The influencer who bragged that she wouldn’t go to jail because she’s “white.” (She went to jail.) The guy arrested while in a touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The Coors Light guy. And, of course, there’s QAnon Shaman.
One of the strangest, though, is Thomas Webster, a former NYPD officer who was put on trial for assaulting a member of the D.C. police. Webster tried to claim self-defense, but as per ABC News, on Monday he found out a jury wasn’t buying that line.
Webster was found guilty of assaulting D.C. Metro Police Officer Noah Rathbun. A disturbing video shows Webster pushing through a crowd up to a line of bike racks that were being used as make-shift barriers. He wore a bullet-proof vest and wielded a Marine Corps flag. The former policeman then started yelling at the vastly outnumbered officers, calling them “commie mother*ckers” and swinging the metal flagpole at them. After breaking through the bike rack formation, he ran toward Rathbun and tackled him, pulling at his gas mask, which wound up choking the officer.
NEW: Justice Dept. just released horrifying new footage from 1/6. Feds say this is ex-NYPD officer Thomas Webster (red jacket) wielding a flagpole, rushing at police & tackling a cop to the ground. DOJ released this after legal action by CNN and other outlets. (warning: explicit) pic.twitter.com/yf7DQQFMWr
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) June 17, 2021
In his defense, Webster called Rathbun a “rogue cop,” claiming that Rathbun had started the fight. But the jury didn’t buy it, and Webster, the fourth Jan. 6 rioter to be put on trial, and the first to be tried on assault charges, as well as the first to claim self-defense.
(Via ABC News)