Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get jail

A New York Metropolis choose’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 Judge James Boasberg mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the entrance lines” 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 told Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg additionally sentenced Mostofsky to 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 judge 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,” stated Mostofsky, who should report to prison in approximately one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a strolling stick and wearing a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He told a buddy 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 peaceable transfer of energy 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 begin on Sept. 26 and is expected to last about a month. A second trial for the opposite four defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta agreed to offer defense lawyers more time to arrange for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A couple of protection attorneys expressed concern concerning the possible impact if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the same time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a motive for one more delay, “even if 435 members of Congress begin reading from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 people 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 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 seriously injured by rioters and has since testified earlier than Congress about the assault.

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

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing tips really helpful 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 space around the Capitol and among the first to breach the building itself, by means of the Senate Wing doors, in keeping with prosecutors. He pushed towards a police barrier that officers had been trying to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot protect, prosecutors said.

“Mostofsky cheered on different rioters as they clashed with police outside the Capitol constructing, 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 steadily wears costumes at occasions, in response to his attorneys.

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

A New York Put up reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol throughout the riot. He instructed 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 judge in Brooklyn.

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

Boasberg mentioned none 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 choose added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor charges 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 disorder conviction.

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

“He did things he mustn't have performed,” Smith stated. “However there’s an enormous difference 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.