Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

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 Choose James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the front 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 home and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the judge instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to one yr 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 feel sorry for the officers that had to take care of that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who should report back to jail 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 advised 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.

Additionally 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 power 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 start out on Sept. 26 and is expected to final a few month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to offer defense legal professionals more time to prepare for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A couple of defense attorneys expressed concern in regards to the attainable affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a reason for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 people 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 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 guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was significantly injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress about 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 5 years and three months.

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing pointers really useful a jail sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended 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 area around the Capitol and among the many first to breach the building itself, by the Senate Wing doors, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers have been trying 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 building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to certainly one of his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a courtroom submitting.

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

Mostofsky steadily wears costumes at events, in keeping with his legal professionals.

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

A New York Submit reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol during 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 decide in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a decide means that he should have been higher in a position than different defendants to know why the claims of election fraud have been false,” mentioned Justice Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

“I hope at this point 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 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 dwelling confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceful transfer of power.

“He did issues he shouldn't have accomplished,” Smith stated. “But there’s an enormous difference between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and somebody who ends up doing dangerous issues once they find” themselves in a crowd.