Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

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

U.S. District Decide James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the front 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 house and abroad, and that can’t be undone,” the decide instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to at least one year of supervised release 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 really feel sorry for the officers that had to cope with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who must report back to prison 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 pal that the costume expressed his perception that “even a caveman” would know that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

Also 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 peaceable switch of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A first 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 anticipated to final a couple of month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to provide defense attorneys extra time to prepare for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A couple of defense attorneys expressed concern about the doable influence if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the similar time as the first trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a purpose for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded responsible, largely to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Department 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 guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress in regards to the attack.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, including over 60 who've been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 14 days to 5 years and three months.

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

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted space across the Capitol and among the first to breach the constructing itself, through the Senate Wing doors, in response to prosecutors. He pushed in opposition to a police barrier that officers have been attempting to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors mentioned.

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

Contained in the building, Mostofsky followed 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 regularly wears costumes at events, according to his legal professionals.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol during the riot. He informed the reporter that he stormed the Capitol as a result of “the election was stolen.”

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

“The fact that his father is a decide signifies 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 Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and mates 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 charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor prices of theft of presidency property and coming into and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

Mostofsky’s attorneys requested for a sentence of residence confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Protection lawyer Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceable transfer of power.

“He did issues he shouldn't have completed,” Smith stated. “However there’s a big distinction between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and someone who ends up doing bad things after they discover” themselves in a crowd.