Man who stormed Capitol in caveman costume gets jail

A New York City choose’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 Judge James Boasberg said Aaron Mostofsky was “actually on the front strains” 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, each at dwelling and overseas, and that can’t be undone,” the decide instructed Mostofsky, 35.

Boasberg also sentenced Mostofsky to 1 12 months of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of neighborhood 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 needed to deal with that chaos,” mentioned 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 informed a good 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.

Also 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 five of nine Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy, together with group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now scheduled to start on Sept. 26 and is anticipated to final about a month. A second trial for the other 4 defendants is scheduled to start on Nov. 29.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta agreed to present protection legal professionals extra time to prepare for trial however indicated that he isn’t inclined to grant one other delay. A number of defense attorneys expressed concern concerning the attainable impression if a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot releases its report around the same time as the first trial. Mehta said that wouldn’t be a purpose for another delay, “even when 435 members of Congress begin studying from the report on the courthouse steps.”

More than 780 folks 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 guilty 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 Young, pleaded responsible on Thursday to assaulting Fanone, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress about the assault.

More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, together with over 60 who have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 14 days to 5 years and three months.

In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing pointers recommended a prison sentence starting from 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors really useful a sentence of 15 months in jail followed by three years of supervised release.

Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area across the Capitol and among the many first to breach the constructing itself, by the Senate Wing doors, based on prosecutors. He pushed against a police barrier that officers had been 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 building, even celebrating with a fist-bump to one of his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a court docket submitting.

Inside the building, Mostofsky adopted rioters who chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase toward the Senate chambers. He took the police vest and shield with him when he left the Capitol, about 20 minutes after getting into.

Mostofsky incessantly wears costumes at occasions, in response to his lawyers.

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

A New York Post reporter interviewed him contained in the Capitol throughout 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 courtroom decide in Brooklyn.

“The fact that his father is a decide implies that he ought to have been better in a position than different defendants to understand why the claims of election fraud were false,” said Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano.

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

“I hope at this point 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 presidency property and entering and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds. Mostofsky was the primary Capitol rioter to be sentenced for a civil dysfunction conviction.

Mostofsky’s lawyers requested for a sentence of home confinement, probation and neighborhood service. Protection legal professional Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “drifted with the gang” and didn’t go to the Capitol to intervene with the peaceful switch of energy.

“He did issues he mustn't have performed,” Smith said. “However there’s an enormous distinction between an ideologue who is motivated to commit violence and somebody who ends up doing unhealthy things after they discover” themselves in a crowd.