Thomas Webster, 56, in better days, was a U.S. Marine and New York City police officer. He should’ve known better. What was he thinking?
But caught up in MAGA madness, he went to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, to storm the Capitol. He even took a gun with him. A gun! What did he plan to do with it?
On that fateful day, he attacked our country, and ruined the rest of his life. CNN says, “In videos played during his trial, [he] can be seen swinging a metal flagpole at DC officer Noah Rathbun before crossing police barriers … and tackling Rathbun, choking him with the officer’s chinstrap.”
The judge said, “It is not until you arrived, Mr. Webster, that all hell broke loose. I still remained shocked every time I see it. Nobody pushed you forward, you ran.” That is, hhHe led the charge against the police line — and broke through.
The guy who went to the Capitol in taxpayer-issued body armor to overthrow our government, then beat and choked a fellow cop, claimed self-defense at his trial. He lied about what he did, but unfortunately for him, it was recorded. His lawyer called him “a decent guy” and his actions “justified.”
The judge gave him 10 years, the longest sentence handed to a Capitol rioter yet, though I suspect longer ones are coming.
I’m 100% with the judge. Webster didn’t just attack Officer Rathbun, he also attacked the 81 million Americans who elected Biden and had a right to do so. He attacked our democracy and the rule of law. Whatever his past service, on that day he didn’t fight to defend freedom, he fought to take it away.
His lawyer, who wanted him sentenced to time served, “also shifted the blame to former President Donald Trump and the Republican party for turning Webster, and ‘otherwise decent, law abiding individuals … against fellow Americans.'” That they did, and are still doing, and there should be an accounting before the law and at the ballot box for that.
But that’s bad lawyering. Webster had a duty and obligation to know right from wrong, and turn away rather than join the mob. His failure to do so is his responsibility, and is costing him dearly, as it should.
Read story here.
Photo: Defendant Webster assaulting Officer Rathbun
