A federal judge sentenced former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison for assaulting officers outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
A still from Metropolitan Police Department body worn camera video shows Thomas Webster, in red jacket, at a barricade line at on the west front of the Capitol in Wasington, Jan. 6, 2021.A federal judge has sentenced former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison forThe sentence is the longest prison term yet for a defendant in the Justice Department's criminal investigation of Jan. 6, but short of the 17.5 years prosecutors had sought for Webster.
According to testimony and video of the riot, Webster, clad in a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, pushed toward the front of the crowd and yelled at Rathburn to "take your s--- off!" Webster was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
While making a statement during his sentencing hearing, Webster wept, saying he should have never come to D.C. on Jan. 6. He said he was overwhelmed and frustrated by his emotions and political rhetoric and should have known to turn away but did not have the courage to do so. He also apologized to Rathbun.