Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get prison

A New York City judge’s son who stormed the U.S. Capitol sporting a furry “caveman” costume was sentenced on Friday to eight months in jail.

U.S. District Choose James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “actually 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, each at dwelling and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the choose instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally 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 requested the decide for mercy, saying he was ashamed of his “contribution to the chaos of that day.”

“I feel sorry for the officers that had 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 instructed 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 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 nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is predicted to last a few month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to give protection lawyers extra time to arrange for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. Just a few protection attorneys expressed concern in regards to the potential impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the identical time as the primary trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a purpose for another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded responsible, mostly 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 guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was critically injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress in regards to the assault.

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

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines recommended a jail sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really useful a sentence of 15 months in jail 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 constructing itself, by way of the Senate Wing doors, in keeping with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers have been trying to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors mentioned.

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

Inside 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 coming into.

Mostofsky incessantly wears costumes at events, based on his attorneys.

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

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol in the course of the riot. He told the reporter that he stormed the Capitol as a result of “the election was stolen.”

Mostofsky has worked as an assistant architect in New York. His father, Steven Mostofsky, is a state courtroom judge in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a judge implies that he should have been better ready than other defendants to grasp why the claims of election fraud were false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

“I hope at this level you understand that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic situation,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony cost of civil disorder and misdemeanor costs of theft of government property and getting into and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Mostofsky was the primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

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

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