Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

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

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg mentioned 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, each at residence and overseas, and that may’t be undone,” the choose told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to 1 yr of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of group service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

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

“I feel sorry for the officers that needed to deal with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who must report 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 instructed 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 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 first jury trial for 5 of 9 Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to final a few month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to provide protection lawyers more time to arrange for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A few protection attorneys expressed concern about the potential impact if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a reason for another delay, “even when 435 members of Congress start reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 individuals have been charged with federal crimes related 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 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 Young, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress concerning the attack.

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 pointers really helpful 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 many first rioters to enter the restricted space around the Capitol and among the first to breach the building itself, by means of the Senate Wing doors, in keeping with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers were trying to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot defend, prosecutors mentioned.

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

Inside the building, 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 coming into.

Mostofsky ceaselessly 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 dwelling metropolis,” they wrote.

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol in the course of the riot. He advised the reporter that he stormed the Capitol as a result of “the election was stolen.”

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

“The fact that his father is a choose means that he ought to have been better ready than different defendants to know why the claims of election fraud were false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

“I hope at this point you understand that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic state of affairs,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor fees of theft of presidency property and getting 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 asked for a sentence of house confinement, probation and group service. Protection attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.

“He did things he shouldn't have carried out,” Smith stated. “However there’s a big distinction between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and somebody who finally ends up doing unhealthy issues when they discover” themselves in a crowd.