Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get prison

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

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the entrance strains” 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, both at residence and overseas, and that may’t be undone,” the judge informed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to 1 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,” 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 advised a 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 decide 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 five of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 and is predicted to final a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to present protection legal professionals more time to arrange for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A couple of protection attorneys expressed concern in regards to the possible affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a motive for an additional delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 individuals 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 responsible 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 Younger, pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress in regards to the attack.

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 tips really helpful a prison sentence ranging 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 around the Capitol and among the many first to breach the building itself, via the Senate Wing doorways, in line with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers have been attempting to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot defend, prosecutors said.

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

Contained in 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 defend with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after getting into.

Mostofsky incessantly wears costumes at events, based on his legal professionals.

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

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol in the course of the riot. He instructed 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 court decide in Brooklyn.

“The truth that his father is a decide means that he should have been better in a position than other defendants to know why the claims of election fraud were false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

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

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor costs of theft of government property and entering and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil disorder conviction.

Mostofsky’s lawyers requested for a sentence of home confinement, probation and group service. Defense lawyer Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful switch of energy.

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