Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume will get jail

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 mentioned Aaron Mostofsky was “literally 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 home and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the choose advised Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to one 12 months of supervised launch and ordered him to carry out 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 feel sorry for the officers that had to take care of that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who must report back to jail in roughly one month.

Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and wearing a furry costume when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol. He told a buddy that the costume expressed his perception 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 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 begin on Sept. 26 and is expected to last about a month. A second trial for the opposite 4 defendants is scheduled to begin on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to present defense lawyers extra time to organize for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant another delay. A couple of protection attorneys expressed concern in regards to the potential affect if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report across the same time as the first trial. Mehta stated that wouldn’t be a motive for another 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, principally to misdemeanors.

A Tennessee man, Albuquerque Head, pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Division 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 Young, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was severely injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress concerning the attack.

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

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines really helpful a jail sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really helpful 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 many first to breach the constructing itself, by means of the Senate Wing doors, in accordance with prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers were attempting to maneuver and stole a Capitol Police bulletproof vest and riot shield, prosecutors mentioned.

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

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

Mostofsky regularly wears costumes at occasions, in accordance with his lawyers.

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

A New York Publish reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol during the riot. He informed the reporter that he stormed the Capitol because “the election was stolen.”

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

“The fact that his father is a choose signifies that he ought to have been higher able than other defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud had been false,” said Justice Division prosecutor Michael Romano.

Boasberg mentioned none of the supportive letters submitted by Mostofsky’s household and buddies explain 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 scenario,” the decide added.

Aaron Mostofsky pleaded responsible in February to a felony cost of civil disorder and misdemeanor costs of theft of presidency property and coming 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 attorneys asked for a sentence of home confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Defense legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the crowd” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceable switch of energy.

“He did things he shouldn't have done,” Smith said. “However there’s an enormous difference between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and someone who ends up doing unhealthy things after they find” themselves in a crowd.