Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

A New York Metropolis judge’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 Decide James Boasberg mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the entrance 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 house and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the decide told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to at least one year of supervised launch 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 really feel sorry for the officers that needed to deal with that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who must report to prison 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 buddy 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 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 first 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 final about a month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to offer defense attorneys extra time to prepare for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. Just a few protection attorneys expressed concern about the potential impact if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a cause for another 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 guilty, largely 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 Younger, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress about the assault.

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 tips really helpful a prison 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 many first rioters to enter the restricted area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, by means of the Senate Wing doorways, in line with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers were trying to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors stated.

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

Inside the building, Mostofsky adopted rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase towards the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and defend with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after coming into.

Mostofsky often wears costumes at occasions, according to his attorneys.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol throughout 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 court docket choose in Brooklyn.

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

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

“I hope at this level you perceive 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 dysfunction and misdemeanor costs of theft of government 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 lawyers requested 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 switch of energy.

“He did things he should not have finished,” Smith stated. “But there’s a big distinction between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and someone who ends up doing unhealthy issues after they discover” themselves in a crowd.