Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

A New York Metropolis decide’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 “literally on the entrance lines” 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, both 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 carry out 200 hours of community 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 feel sorry for the officers that had to deal with that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who must report back to jail in approximately 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 choose 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 energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A first jury trial for 5 of nine 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 out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to give defense lawyers extra time to organize for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. Just a few protection attorneys expressed concern about the doable impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a reason for an additional delay, “even when 435 members of Congress start studying 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, largely to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded responsible 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 responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress concerning 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 pointers really helpful a prison sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really useful a sentence of 15 months in jail adopted by three years of supervised release.

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

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

Contained in 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 protect with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after coming into.

Mostofsky ceaselessly wears costumes at events, in line with his lawyers.

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

A New York Publish reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol during the riot. He instructed 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 fact that his father is a choose signifies that he should have been higher in a position than different defendants to grasp why the claims of election fraud had been false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and buddies clarify how he “went down this rabbit gap of election fantasy.”

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

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge 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 primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s attorneys requested for a sentence of home confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the group” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceable switch of power.

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