Published on: 09/02/2022 – 01:54 This is the heaviest sentence handed down to one of the rioters of January 6, 2021: an ex-New York police officer was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison. jail for participating in the attack on the Capitol by assaulting a police officer. A retired New York police officer was sentenced on Thursday (September 1st) to ten years in prison in Washington for his participation in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the longest sentence handed down to date against one of the assailants. .Aged 56, Thomas Webster assaulted a policeman with a flag pole, and tore off the gas mask of this official responsible for protecting the Congress building during the riot. The scene, filmed using a body camera carried by the victim, testified to the violence of these moments and allowed the jury of the federal court in Washington to agree in May on the guilt of Mr. Webster. The sentence was announced Thursday by Federal Judge Amit Mehta. “He chose to escalate the situation, brutally […]. Today’s sentence holds him responsible for his repeated attacks on an officer that day,” commented Matthew Graves, a prosecutor with the US Department of Justice. Donald Trump promises a pardonThe former police officer, who was also enlisted in the Marines, was arrested on February 21, 2021, and found guilty by a jury of five misdemeanors three months later, including assaulting police officers using a dangerous weapon. Justice justifies the severity of the sentence by the former statute of Thomas Webster. “Mr. Webster not only betrayed his oath, but also his fellow law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to protect the public,” said Steven D’Antuono, an FBI official in Washington. More than 860 people have been arrested on January 6, 2021. Former President Donald Trump promised in a radio interview on Thursday that he intends to pardon all Capitol attackers if he is re-elected to the White House. AFP