Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

A New York Metropolis judge’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 Decide James Boasberg said Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the entrance strains” 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 overseas, and that may’t be undone,” the choose informed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to 1 12 months of supervised launch and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of community service and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Mostofsky had asked the decide 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 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 pal 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 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, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start out on Sept. 26 and is expected to last a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to provide protection legal professionals extra time to prepare for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. Just a few defense attorneys expressed concern in regards to the potential influence if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the first trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a purpose for an additional delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin studying 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 responsible, 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 Young, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was critically injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress in regards to the assault.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, including over 60 who have been sentenced to phrases of imprisonment ranging from 14 days to 5 years and three months.

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

Mostofsky was one of many first rioters to enter the restricted space across the Capitol and among the first to breach the building itself, through the Senate Wing doors, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers had been attempting to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors mentioned.

“Mostofsky cheered on other rioters as they clashed with police exterior the Capitol building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one in all his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a courtroom filing.

Contained in 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 occasions, in line with his legal professionals.

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

A New York Submit reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol through 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 docket choose in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a choose implies that he should have been better in a position than different defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud were false,” stated Justice Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and friends clarify how he “went down this rabbit hole of election fantasy.”

“I hope at this point you understand that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic state of affairs,” the decide added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of civil dysfunction and misdemeanor costs of theft of presidency property and getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s lawyers asked for a sentence of house confinement, probation and group service. Defense 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 energy.

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