Former NYPD officer sentenced to 10 years for storming Capitol on Jan. 6
The former cop was wearing body armor and assaulted several officers
NEW YORK -- A federal judge has sentenced former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison for assaulting officers outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
The sentence is the longest prison term yet for a defendant in the Justice Department's criminal investigation of Jan. 6, but short of the 17.5 years prosecutors had sought for Webster.
The DOJ had previously released harrowing officer body camera footage that showed Webster assaulting law enforcement.
The sentencing comes after a jury found Webster guilty on six charges, including assaulting a police officer, in May.
Webster was found guilty of assaulting D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun, who testified during the trial.
According to testimony and video of the riot, Webster, clad in a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, pushed toward the front of the crowd and yelled at Rathburn to "take your s--- off!"
Video shows Webster swing a metal flagpole and breaking apart bike racks that were acting as a police perimeter. As Rathbun backed away, Webster tackled him then pulled at the officer's gas mask. Rathbun testified that he began to choke on his chin strap as Webster pulled at the mask. Video shows that Rathbun hit Webster's face while trying to push him away.
During the trial, Webster claimed that Rathbun had provoked the fight and that he pulled at Rathbun's mask as a form of self-defense.
Webster was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
ABC News' Gabe Stern contributed to this report.
