Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get prison

A New York City decide’s son who stormed the U.S. Capitol carrying a furry “caveman” costume was sentenced on Friday to eight months in jail.

U.S. District Choose James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the entrance lines” of the mob’s assault on Jan. 6, 2021.

“What you and others did on that day imposed an indelible stain on how our nation is perceived, each at residence and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the judge instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to at least one year of supervised launch and ordered him to perform 200 hours of neighborhood service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had asked the judge for mercy, saying he was ashamed of his “contribution to the chaos of that day.”

“I feel sorry for the officers that had to deal with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who should report to jail in roughly one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and dressed in a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He told a pal that the costume expressed his belief that “even a caveman” would know that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

Additionally on Friday, a federal decide agreed to postpone a trial in July for members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group charged with conspiring to forcefully halt the peaceful transfer of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A primary jury trial for five of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is expected to last a couple of month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to begin on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to provide defense legal professionals extra time to arrange for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A couple of defense attorneys expressed concern about the doable impact if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the same time as the first trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a reason for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded responsible, mostly to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Division Officer Michael Fanone. Head pulled Fanone into a crowd of rioters who beat him, shocked him with a stun gun and stole his badge and police radio. An Iowa man, Kyle Younger, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was critically injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress concerning the assault.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with over 60 who have been sentenced to phrases of imprisonment starting from 14 days to 5 years and three months.

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines really helpful a prison sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really helpful a sentence of 15 months in jail adopted by three years of supervised release.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, by means of the Senate Wing doorways, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed in opposition to a police barrier that officers had been attempting to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors stated.

“Mostofsky cheered on other rioters as they clashed with police outdoors the Capitol constructing, even celebrating with a fist-bump to certainly one of his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a court docket filing.

Inside the building, Mostofsky adopted rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase toward the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after getting into.

Mostofsky often wears costumes at events, in keeping with his attorneys.

“To place the matter with understatement, the New Yorker is quirky even by the requirements of his residence metropolis,” they wrote.

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol through the riot. He instructed the reporter that he stormed the Capitol because “the election was stolen.”

Mostofsky has labored as an assistant architect in New York. His father, Steven Mostofsky, is a state courtroom decide in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a decide signifies that he ought to have been better in a position than other defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud had been false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and associates clarify how he “went down this rabbit gap of election fantasy.”

“I hope at this level you perceive that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic scenario,” the choose added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor fees of theft of government property and entering and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

Mostofsky’s legal professionals asked for a sentence of home confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the group” and didn’t go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.

“He did things he mustn't have done,” Smith stated. “However there’s a big difference between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and someone who finally ends up doing bad issues once they discover” themselves in a crowd.