A US court has sentenced a retired New York police officer to 10 years in prison for attacking the Capitol and using a flagpole to attack a police officer.
Thomas Webster’s prison term is the longest to date among the nearly 250 people who were punished for their behavior during the January 6, 2021 riots. Two others involved in the riots were separately sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.
Webster, a former NYPD officer, was the first Capitol riot suspect to stand trial for assault and the first to present a self-defense argument, but the jury rejected Webster’s claim that he defended himself when dealing with cop Noah Rathbone and tore his gas mask outside the Capitol.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, 56, sentenced Webster to 10 years in prison plus three years of probation and allowed Webster to report to prison officials at a time to be determined rather than ordering detention immediately.
Source: Washington Post.