Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

A New York Metropolis 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 front traces” of the mob’s attack 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 can’t be undone,” the decide told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to at least one 12 months of supervised launch and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of group service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had requested 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 needed to deal with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who should 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 advised 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 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 first jury trial for 5 of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to final a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to give defense legal professionals more time to arrange for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A couple of defense attorneys expressed concern concerning the possible impact 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 reason for one more delay, “even when 435 members of Congress begin reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes associated 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 Young, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress in regards to the assault.

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

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines advisable a jail 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 the first rioters to enter the restricted area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, by means of the Senate Wing doorways, in line with prosecutors. He pushed in opposition to a police barrier that officers have been trying to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors stated.

“Mostofsky cheered on other rioters as they clashed with police exterior the Capitol building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one in all 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 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 often wears costumes at occasions, based on his attorneys.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol throughout the riot. He advised 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 court docket judge in Brooklyn.

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

Boasberg said 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 level you understand that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic state of affairs,” the decide added.

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

Mostofsky’s attorneys requested for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and community service. Protection attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the gang” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceable transfer of energy.

“He did issues he should not have achieved,” Smith stated. “However there’s an enormous distinction between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and somebody who finally ends up doing dangerous issues after they discover” themselves in a crowd.