Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets prison

A New York Metropolis choose’s son who stormed the U.S. Capitol sporting a furry “caveman” costume was sentenced on Friday to eight months in jail.

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, each at home and overseas, and that may’t be undone,” the decide instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to one year of supervised launch and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of neighborhood service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had requested the decide for mercy, saying he was ashamed of his “contribution to the chaos of that day.”

“I feel sorry for the officers that had to cope 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 pal 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 peaceable transfer of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A primary jury trial for 5 of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is expected to final about a month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to provide protection legal professionals extra time to prepare for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern in regards to the doable impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the same time as the primary trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a purpose for an additional delay, “even when 435 members of Congress start studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 folks 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 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 Younger, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was significantly injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress in regards to the attack.

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

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing pointers advisable a prison sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area around the Capitol and among the first to breach the constructing itself, by means of the Senate Wing doors, in line with prosecutors. He pushed in opposition to a police barrier that officers were making an attempt to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors mentioned.

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

Inside the building, 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 entering.

Mostofsky regularly wears costumes at occasions, according to his lawyers.

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

A New York Publish reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol in the course of the riot. He told 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 court choose in Brooklyn.

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

Boasberg said none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and pals explain how he “went down this rabbit hole of election fantasy.”

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

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony cost of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor charges 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 disorder conviction.

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

“He did issues he shouldn't have carried out,” Smith mentioned. “However there’s a big difference between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and someone who finally ends up doing bad issues when they discover” themselves in a crowd.