Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

A New York Metropolis decide’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 mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the front lines” 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 dwelling and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the judge advised Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to 1 yr of supervised launch and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community 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 really feel sorry for the officers that had to take care of that chaos,” mentioned Mostofsky, who must report back to jail 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 instructed 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.

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 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, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to last a few month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to give defense legal professionals extra time to prepare for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern about the potential influence if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the primary trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a reason for an additional delay, “even when 435 members of Congress start studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

Greater than 780 people have been charged with federal crimes related 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 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 earlier than Congress in regards to the attack.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with over 60 who have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment starting from 14 days to five years and three months.

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines advisable a prison sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors advisable a sentence of 15 months in jail adopted 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 constructing itself, by the Senate Wing doors, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed in opposition to a police barrier that officers have been trying to maneuver 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 constructing, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one in all his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a court docket filing.

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

Mostofsky incessantly wears costumes at occasions, in accordance with his legal professionals.

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

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol throughout the riot. He advised 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 decide means that he should have been higher in a position than different defendants to grasp why the claims of election fraud have been false,” mentioned Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg stated not one of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and pals 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 situation,” the judge added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty 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 building or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s legal professionals asked for a sentence of dwelling confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceful transfer of power.

“He did things he mustn't have completed,” Smith stated. “But there’s a big difference between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and somebody who finally ends up doing unhealthy issues when they discover” themselves in a crowd.