Photo via @Cleavon_MD/Twitter, FBI
February 23, 2021, 3:43 pm
Another notable participant in the attempted coup at the Capitol on January 6 has been arrested, and this time the charges include gouging out the eye of one of the Capitol police officers on duty that day. Activists working to identify the worst of the insurrectionists caught on film have dubbed him the “eye gouger,” and as it turns out, he used to be a cop himself.
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The retired New York police officer has been identified as Thomas Webster and is also accused of attacking current cops with a pipe, a flag pole, and pulling down one officer’s mask until he choked.
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After clearly appearing in footage tackling an Capitol officer to the ground, Webster finally surrendered to the FBI office in Hudson Valley on Monday. He has been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a deadly weapon and obstruction of law enforcement in addition to the typical trespassing and disorderly conduct charges. Prosecutors also believe he was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun on Capitol grounds on that fateful day.
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“We believe he had a gun at the Capitol and thank God he didn’t fire a shot then,” they said.
Attacking a cop will usually land you with some serious consequences, but Webster’s defense lawyer still attempted to get him a “fair bail” at his initial court hearing based on the idea that he “has done a terrific job as a husband and a father.” In spite of this, the judge ordered Webster detained without bail due to the threat he could pose to the community.
Defense lawyer James Monroe also reportedly said that his client plans to plead not guilty, which should be an interesting trick considering the footage that led prosecutors to describe Webster “like a junkyard dog — teeth clenched and fists clenched.”
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It’s unclear whether the specific charges against Webster include eye gouging, but it has been confirmed that at least one Capitol officer lost an eye after being attacked during the insurrection. One image appears to show him going for an officer’s face, though the plastic face shield gets in the way.
Regardless, Webster will likely face prison time on these charges, unless the courts are truly incapable of punishing anybody who has ever been a cop.
*First Published: February 23, 2021, 3:43 pm
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