Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

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

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the entrance traces” 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, both at residence and abroad, and that can’t be undone,” the choose told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to one year of supervised launch and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of group service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

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

“I really feel sorry for the officers that had to cope with that chaos,” stated Mostofsky, who must report to prison in approximately 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 friend 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 choose agreed to postpone a trial in July for members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group charged with conspiring to forcefully halt the peaceable switch of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A first jury trial for five of 9 Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start out on Sept. 26 and is expected to final about a month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to present protection legal professionals more time to organize for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern in regards to the doable impact if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a purpose for an additional delay, “even when 435 members of Congress begin reading 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 responsible on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone. Head pulled Fanone right 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 guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress about the assault.

Greater than 160 defendants have been sentenced, including over 60 who have been sentenced to phrases of imprisonment starting from 14 days to five years and three months.

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

Mostofsky was one of many first rioters to enter the restricted area around the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, by way of the Senate Wing doors, in keeping with prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers had been trying to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors stated.

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

Inside the constructing, Mostofsky followed rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase towards the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after entering.

Mostofsky incessantly wears costumes at events, based on his lawyers.

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

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

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

“The truth that his father is a choose implies that he should have been better in a position than different defendants to know why the claims of election fraud had been false,” mentioned Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated none 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 point you perceive that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic scenario,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony cost of civil disorder and misdemeanor prices of theft of presidency property and getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

Mostofsky’s lawyers requested for a sentence of house confinement, probation and community service. Protection legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the gang” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intrude with the peaceful switch of energy.

“He did issues he mustn't have completed,” Smith mentioned. “However there’s an enormous distinction between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and somebody who ends up doing unhealthy issues once they discover” themselves in a crowd.