FBI
- An accused Capitol rioter claimed he was “seeing stars” after being struck in the face on January 6.
- “It was a hard hit,” said Thomas Webster, a former New York City cop accused of hitting an officer.
- Webster’s self-defense claim drew skeptical questioning from a federal prosecutor.
In the weeks leading up to January 6, 2021, Thomas Webster was waffling on whether to make the trip to Washington, DC, for rallies supporting then-President Donald Trump.
For the former New York City police officer, who helped with snow removal in retirement, the decision ultimately came down to the weather. “If it snows, I stay home,” Webster said of his thinking in early 2021.
Webster recalled that fateful decision-making Thursday as he testified in his own defense against federal charges that he assaulted a Washington, DC, police officer amid the mayhem of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A former Marine who retired from the New York City police force following a 20-year career, Webster claimed he was acting in self-defense when he swung a flag pole at an officer guarding the Capitol before tackling that officer to the ground and grabbing his gas mask.
Narrating his encounter with the officer, Webster said, “I’m trying to protect myself in a manner that doesn’t hurt this officer.”
“I wanted him to see my hands, and I pushed against his gas mask,” he added.
The FBI has arrested nearly 800 alleged participants in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Webster is the fourth alleged member of the pro-Trump mob to stand trial before a jury. In each of the three previous jury trials — including one against a member of the far-right Three Percenters militia and another against a police officer — the Justice Department secured convictions on all charges.
But in so-called bench trials — in which a judge renders a verdict — prosecutors have been dealt setbacks. In the first such trial, Judge Trevor McFadden found a New Mexico county commissioner guilty of trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds but acquitted him on a separate misdemeanor charge. A subsequent bench trial ended with McFadden issuing the first outright acquittal in a January 6 case, finding a New Mexico engineer not guilty on four misdemeanor charges.
Webster’s case is testing a self-defense argument against charges stemming from January 6 attack, which left more than 100 officers injured.
On Thursday, Webster explained that he fought with Officer Noah Rathbun on January 6 only after being struck in the face.
Rathbun testified the previous day that he was trying to create distance with Webster and “incidentally” made contact with his face as he gestured for him to move back. The officer said his hand was open — not clenched into a fist — and he recalled feeling choked by the chin strap of his helmet after Webster tackled him to the ground.
On Thursday, Webster’s claim of self-defense drew skeptical questioning from assistant US attorney Katherine Nielsen, who showed footage of Webster with a rageful expression as he charged at Rathbun.
When asked if there was “fear” on his face, Webster responded, “It’s hard to interpret that.”
“It’s anger, isn’t it?” Nielsen asked.
“Yes,” Webster conceded. “I got hit.”
In a February 2021 interview with the FBI, Webster said he was “hit like a freight train” outside the Capitol on January 6. Webster repeated that description in court Thursday and said he was “seeing stars.”
“It was a hard hit, and all I wanted to do was defend myself,” Webster said.
“It was one of the hardest hits that I’ve had,” he added. “I’m not exaggerating.”
Webster said he interpreted a gesture from Rathbun as an “obvious taunt” and suspected that the officer was a “rogue cop.” Before his encounter with Rathbun, Webster said, he was upset by the sight of members of the pro-Trump mob who were crying or appeared to be injured.
Drawing from his experience as a New York City police officer, Webster fashioned himself something of an on-the-ground reviewer of the security measures on January 6.
He said the bike racks were not interlocked, a purported oversight he described as “unprofessional.” And when he pushed a bike rack into Rathbun, it was to “indicate to him that I could have opened it up like a barn gate very easily,” Webster said Thursday.
At one point in their encounter, Rathbun grabbed away the flag pole and held it in what Webster characterized Thursday as a “gladiator position.” Webster refused to concede that he tackled Rathbun after breaching the metal bike racks, testifying, “He kind of fell down.”
But, under cross-examination, Nielsen noted that Webster was “on top” of Rathbun when he fell to the ground.
During Nielsen’s questioning, Webster said he had a “clear conscience” about his fight with Rathbun when he spoke in February 2021 with the FBI. At another point in the day’s proceedings, jurors viewed a video taken by another member of the pro-Trump mob in which Webster looks into the camera and says, “Send more patriots.”
Webster dismissed the footage Thursday as an attempt to get his “15 minutes of fame.”
He will return to the witness stand Friday for further questioning from Nielsen.
At the close of Thursday’s proceedings, Judge Amit Mehta expressed frustration with the slow pace of the questioning, giving both sides “homework.”
Mehta urged prosecutors to come up with “short and concise” questioning that would elicit clear answers.
Of Webster, who resisted giving yes-or-no responses, Mehta requested that he “answer the questions being asked of you.”
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