Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

A New York City 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 Decide James Boasberg stated Aaron Mostofsky was “actually 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 choose instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to 1 yr of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community 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 should 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 instructed a friend that the costume expressed his belief 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 peaceable switch of energy after President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A primary jury trial for 5 of 9 Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start out on Sept. 26 and is expected to final a couple of month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to start out on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to provide defense legal professionals extra time to organize for trial but indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A couple of defense attorneys expressed concern concerning the potential impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the similar time as the primary trial. Mehta mentioned that wouldn’t be a purpose for one more 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 related to the Capitol riot. Over 280 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty 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 Young, pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress in regards to 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 guidelines recommended a prison sentence ranging from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended 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 building itself, by way of the Senate Wing doors, based on prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers were attempting to move and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors mentioned.

“Mostofsky cheered on different rioters as they clashed with police outdoors the Capitol constructing, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one among his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a court submitting.

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 entering.

Mostofsky ceaselessly wears costumes at events, in line with his lawyers.

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

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

Mostofsky has labored as an assistant architect in New York. His father, Steven Mostofsky, is a state court docket decide in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a choose implies that he ought to have been better ready than different defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud had been false,” stated Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

“I hope at this level you perceive that your indulgence in that fantasy has led to this tragic state of affairs,” the choose added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony cost of civil disorder and misdemeanor expenses 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 legal professionals asked for a sentence of home confinement, probation and group service. Defense lawyer Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the group” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intrude with the peaceable switch of energy.

“He did issues he mustn't have performed,” Smith said. “However there’s a giant difference between an ideologue who's motivated to commit violence and someone who finally ends up doing dangerous things when they find” themselves in a crowd.