A retired New York police officer has been jailed for assaulting one of the officers who tried to stop the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol.
Thomas Webster was sentenced to ten years, the longest term ever given in a riot-related case.
Webster, 56, was found guilty in May after a jury did not believe he was acting in self-defense when he swung a flagpole at a police officer, dashed over a fence and knocked the man down during the fight. violence in Washington DC. .
Tear gas must be released into the crowd of protesters
On the morning of the riot in January 2021, thousands of supporters Donald Trump – inspired by a violent speech he just gave near the White House in which he repeated his claim that he had been denied a second term due to voter fraud – marched to the building Capitol, where the seat of the United States government is located.
The Capitol was in session at the time, overseeing congressional certification Joe Bidenwon the presidential election.
A large group broke through the barrier at the pedestrian entrance to the building’s grounds. Several people also entered the Capitol building after a mob smashed windows and forced them open.
More than 100 policemen were injured in the melee.
Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was the first Capitol riot defendant to be tried for assault.
CBS News reported Judge Amit Mehta told Webster during sentencing: “Me too, I wish you hadn’t come to Washington DC. I also wish you were home in New York … that you didn’t go to the Capitol today. That’s it, because we’d all be so much better.
“Not just you…your family…the country.”
In addition, a lawyer for the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers has been charged with conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack.
Pro-Trump protesters on the National Mall in DC
Ambitious Conspiracy
The US Justice Department said on Thursday that Kellye SoRelle – the general counsel of the anti-government group – was arrested in Texas on charges including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
SoRelle is a close associate of Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath-Keepers, who will be tried later this month along with other extremists on ambitious conspiracy charges.
SoRelle has previously said she was not aware of or involved in the Capitol breach.
