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 prison.

U.S. District Decide James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the front traces” 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 home and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the judge instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to one yr of supervised release and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of neighborhood 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,” stated Mostofsky, who should report to prison 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 instructed a good friend 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 judge 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, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start out on Sept. 26 and is predicted to last about a month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to begin on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to provide protection legal professionals extra time to organize for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. Just a few defense attorneys expressed concern about the potential influence if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the identical time as the first trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a purpose for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 folks 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, including 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 pointers really useful a jail sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really useful a sentence of 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised launch.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted space around the Capitol and among the first to breach the constructing itself, via the Senate Wing doors, according to 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 defend, prosecutors mentioned.

“Mostofsky cheered on different rioters as they clashed with police exterior the Capitol building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one among 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 shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after entering.

Mostofsky often wears costumes at events, based on his lawyers.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol during the riot. He instructed the reporter that he stormed the Capitol as a result of “the election was stolen.”

Mostofsky has labored 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 means that he should have been better ready than other defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud have been false,” stated Justice Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg said none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and friends 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 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 primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s attorneys asked for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Protection 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 peaceful switch of power.

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