Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get prison

A New York City decide’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 Choose James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “literally 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 residence and abroad, and that may’t be undone,” the choose instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to at least one yr of supervised launch and ordered him to perform 200 hours of group 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 had to deal with that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who should report back to jail in roughly one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a strolling stick and wearing a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He advised 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.

Additionally 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 peaceful switch 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, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start on Sept. 26 and is predicted to final about a month. A second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to offer defense lawyers more time to arrange for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of protection attorneys expressed concern in regards to the doable impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a motive for another delay, “even when 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 guilty, principally to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded responsible on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Department 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 seriously injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress concerning the attack.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, including 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 recommended a prison sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors advisable 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 area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the building itself, by means of the Senate Wing doorways, based on prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers were making an attempt to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors said.

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

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

Mostofsky steadily wears costumes at occasions, in line with his legal professionals.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him inside 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 court choose in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a judge implies that he ought to have been higher in a position than other defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud have been false,” stated Justice Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and mates clarify 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 scenario,” the decide added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor prices 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 legal professionals requested for a sentence of residence confinement, probation and community service. Defense legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the gang” and didn’t go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceable transfer of power.

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