Jan. 6 rioter gets longest sentence yet

A judge sentenced retired New York police officer Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison for attacking and choking Washington, D.C., police officer Noah Rathburn. A jury convicted Webster in May of all six charges against him, including assaulting a police officer and engaging in violence on restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon. Rathburn’s body camera footage showed Webster attacking him and swinging a flagpole at him. The officer caught the pole and took it from him. Then, Rathburn said, Webster tackled him and tried to rip off his helmet and gas mask.

What did Webster say? The 56-year-old said he was acting in self-defense. During the chaos of the riot, he thought the officer hit him. During the trial, Webster apologized to Rathburn and his family and said he regretted going to the Capitol in the first place. The judge said she had to give him a longer sentence than other rioters who never touched a police officer. The previous longest sentences were held by two rioters who separately got seven years and three months in prison.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta and Esther Eaton’s report in The Stew about judicial and security updates one year after the riots.