Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get jail

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 Judge James Boasberg mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “actually 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 house and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the choose told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally 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 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 cope with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who must report back to jail in approximately one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and wearing a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He informed 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 decide 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 five of 9 Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to last about a month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to provide protection legal professionals more time to arrange for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A few protection attorneys expressed concern concerning the possible impact 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 motive for an additional delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty 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 responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress about the attack.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with 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 recommended a jail sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really useful a sentence of 15 months in prison adopted by three years of supervised launch.

Mostofsky was one of many first rioters to enter the restricted area around the Capitol and among the first to breach the constructing itself, by way of the Senate Wing doorways, in response to prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers have been attempting to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot defend, prosecutors stated.

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

Contained in the constructing, Mostofsky adopted rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase towards the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after getting into.

Mostofsky continuously wears costumes at occasions, in response to 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 Publish reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol through the riot. He instructed 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 courtroom choose in Brooklyn.

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

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

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

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor charges of theft of government property and entering and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

Mostofsky’s lawyers asked for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and community service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the group” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intrude with the peaceable transfer of energy.

“He did issues he shouldn't have executed,” Smith stated. “However there’s a giant distinction between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and somebody who finally ends up doing unhealthy issues when they find” themselves in a crowd.