Retired New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster is going to prison for 10 years for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including attacking a law enforcement officer, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced earlier this month.
Webster, 56, of the village of Florida, New York, was found guilty of five felonies in May and sentenced Sept. 1 in the District of Columbia, the DOJ announced at the time. His crimes include assaulting law enforcement with a deadly or dangerous weapon; obstructing officers during civil disorder; and engaging in physical violence; among other charges. Webster must remain on supervised release for three years and pay $2,060 in restitution, according to the DOL report.
"As a former Marine and retired police officer, Thomas Webster could readily see the growing dangers to law enforcement when he and other members of the mob targeted the Capitol on January 6th," Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in the report. "He chose to escalate the situation, brutally going on the attack. Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his repeated attacks of an officer that day."
Evidence submitted at the jury trial showed Webster, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a large metal flagpole with the U.S. Marine Corps flag, attended a rally then went to the Capitol and illegally entered the grounds, the DOL statement reports. Webster confronted a Metropolitan Police Department officer, swore at him and told him to "take your sh-- off," according to the report.
"Webster then aggressively shoved the metal gate into the officer’s body," the DOL states in the report. "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," the report continues. "During this attack, the officer struggled to breathe. While Webster had the officer restrained on the ground and unable to breathe, others in the mob began kicking the officer. The officer sustained several injuries as a result of Webster’s attack."
Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said Webster, a former police officer and U.S. Marine who took an oath to defend the Constitution, "knew the severity of his actions on January 6."
“When he assaulted an officer at the U.S. Capitol that day, Mr. Webster betrayed not only his oath but also his fellow law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to protect the American people," D'Antuono said. "Today’s sentencing – the longest given to any Capitol riots subject to date — matches the gravity of Mr. Webster’s offenses."
More than 860 individuals in all 50 states have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the DOJ reports, and the investigation is ongoing.
"The FBI continues to work with our partners to bring the perpetrators of egregious assaults on law enforcement and our democracy to justice,” D'Antuono said.
