Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

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

U.S. District Decide James Boasberg mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the front strains” 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 dwelling and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the choose informed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to one yr 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 feel sorry for the officers that had to deal with that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who must report to jail in roughly one month.

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

Additionally on Friday, a federal judge 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 switch of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A primary jury trial for 5 of 9 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 few month. A second trial for the other 4 defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to offer protection lawyers more time to prepare for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern concerning the doable influence if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the same time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a motive for one more delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 individuals have been charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded guilty, principally to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty 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 responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress about the assault.

Greater than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with 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 tips really useful a prison sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 15 months in prison adopted by three years of supervised launch.

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

“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 courtroom filing.

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

Mostofsky continuously wears costumes at occasions, in response to his lawyers.

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

A New York Submit reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol during the riot. He advised 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 judge in Brooklyn.

“The truth that his father is a choose signifies that he ought to have been higher able than other defendants to grasp why the claims of election fraud have been false,” mentioned Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s household and mates explain how he “went down this rabbit hole of election fantasy.”

“I hope at this level you understand that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic situation,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor charges of theft of presidency property and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Mostofsky was the primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s attorneys requested for a sentence of home confinement, probation and group service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the gang” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intrude with the peaceful transfer of energy.

“He did issues he mustn't have executed,” Smith said. “However there’s a giant difference between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and someone who finally ends up doing unhealthy things when they discover” themselves in a crowd.