Trial opens for ex-NYPD officer charged in Capitol riot

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury has heard attorneys’ opening statements in the trial of a retired New York City police officer charged with attacking a police officer during the riot at the U.S. Capitol. A federal prosecutor told jurors on Tuesday that body camera video captured the rage on Thomas Webster’s face as he swung a flag pole at one of the officers trying to hold off the mob on Jan. 6, 2021. But a defense attorney said another video from a different angle shows that Webster acted in self-defense after the Metropolitan Police Department officer punched him first. Webster’s trial is the first among dozens of cases in which a defendant is charged with assaulting police at the Capitol.