Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets 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 prison.

U.S. District Choose James Boasberg mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “actually 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, both at dwelling and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the choose advised Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to one 12 months of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of group service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had requested 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 needed to take care of that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who must report to prison in roughly one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and wearing a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He told 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 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 peaceable transfer of power 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 expected to last a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to begin on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to present defense legal professionals extra time to organize for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A number of protection attorneys expressed concern concerning the attainable affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the primary trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a purpose for one more delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin 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, largely 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 Young, pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was significantly injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress concerning the attack.

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 guidelines beneficial a jail sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 15 months in jail adopted by three years of supervised launch.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the building itself, through the Senate Wing doorways, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers were attempting to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot defend, prosecutors mentioned.

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

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

Mostofsky often wears costumes at occasions, in keeping with his legal professionals.

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

A New York Publish reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol throughout 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 courtroom judge in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a decide implies that he should have been better ready than different defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud have been false,” said Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and associates explain 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 state of affairs,” the choose added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor prices of theft of government property and coming 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 legal professionals asked for a sentence of house confinement, probation and neighborhood 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 peaceable switch of energy.

“He did things he shouldn't have finished,” Smith stated. “But there’s a big difference between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and someone who ends up doing dangerous things once they discover” themselves in a crowd.