A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a retired New York Police Department officer’s conviction and 10-year prison sentence for assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Thomas Webster’s claims that he was convicted by a biased jury.
Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, argued that the entire jury pool in Washington, D.C., was “presumptively prejudiced” against him. But the panel found no evidence that the jury pool had any preconceived notions about Webster, “or even knew who he was.”
Jurors rejected Webster’s claim that he was defending himself when he tackled Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun and grabbed his gas mask. They convicted Webster of all six counts in his indictment, including a charge that he assaulted Rathbun with a dangerous weapon, a flagpole.
That’s right. Maybe it was a political play. I’m only defending the likelihood because he talks about it at half of his rallies. He calls them patriots, heroes, true Americans, and victims. He even had them all sing the National Anthem from prison for one rally. It’s a big point in his campaign.
Yeah but that only happened when it became clear that his base liked it. Even if it gets him elected I can’t see him thinking on such a way as to thank the people who helped him.
I’m not so sure. He may need them again in 2029. They’ll return with friends if they think they’re above the law.