Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get 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 jail.

U.S. District Judge 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 overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the judge instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to at least one 12 months of supervised release and ordered him to perform 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 needed to deal with that chaos,” stated Mostofsky, who must report 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 instructed a good 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.

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 peaceful transfer of power after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A primary 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 expected to last a couple of 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 present protection lawyers more time to arrange for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. Just a few protection attorneys expressed concern concerning the doable affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the similar time as the primary trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a motive for one more delay, “even when 435 members of Congress begin studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater 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 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 before Congress about the assault.

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

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

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

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

Contained in 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 frequently wears costumes at occasions, based on his legal professionals.

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

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol during the riot. He told 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 court choose in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a judge implies that he ought to have been better able than different defendants to grasp why the claims of election fraud have been false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and buddies explain 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 situation,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony cost of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor fees 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 legal professionals asked for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and group service. Defense legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intrude with the peaceable transfer of energy.

“He did things he mustn't have done,” Smith said. “However there’s a big difference between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and someone who ends up doing unhealthy things after they discover” themselves in a crowd.