Retired police officer sentenced to 10 years in prison for actions related to U.S. Capitol breach

A retired New York police Department officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and related charges for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

His and others' actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Thomas Webster, 56, of the village of Florida, New York, was sentenced in Washington, D.C.

"As a former Marine and retired police officer, Thomas Webster could readily see the growing dangers to law enforcement when he and other members of the mob targeted the Capitol on January 6th," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.

"He chose to escalate the situation, brutally going on the attack. Today's sentence holds him accountable for his repeated attacks of an officer that day," Graves added.

Webster was arrested on Feb. 21, 2021. He was found guilty by a jury on May 2, 2022, of five felonies, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon; and obstructing officers during a civil disorder.

In the 19 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 860 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The investigation remains ongoing, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.