The son of a New York judge who dressed as a caveman and was among the Trump supporters who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
Aaron Mostofsky, 35, was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area around the Capitol, according to prosecutors, dressed in furry “caveman” costumes.
US District Judge James Boasberg said Mostofsky was “literally at the forefront” of the gang’s attack.
The judge added: “What you and others did that day, indelibly tarnished the image of our nation, both at home and abroad, and this cannot be undone.”
Mostofsky worked as an assistant architect in New York and his father Stephen Mostofsky was a judge on the Brooklyn State Court.
Mostovsky was the first rioter in the capital to be condemned for civil unrest.
Five people were killed and dozens arrested after hundreds stormed the United States Capitol in 2021 and more than 780 people were charged with federal rioting charges.
Mostofsky told a friend that the outfit expressed his belief that “even a caveman” would know that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
According to prosecutors, Mostovsky was among the first to enter the building itself, broke through a police barrier and stole a flak jacket and riot shield.
Inside the building, rioters who chased after Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman followed a staircase to the Senate chambers.
The judge also sentenced Mostofsky to a year in prison on probation and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $2,000 in compensation.
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In response, Mostovsky said he was ashamed of his “contribution to the chaos of that day,” adding that he was “sorry for the officers who had to deal with this mess.”
Justice Department Attorney General Michael Romano said the fact that Mostofsky was the son of a judge meant he “should have been better than the other defendants at understanding why the allegations of election fraud were untrue.”
Boasberg said none of the messages of support provided by Mostofsky’s family and friends explained how he had “goed down the rabbit hole of electoral imagination”.
In February, Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty to felony civil commotion and petty crimes related to theft of government property and entry and residence in a prohibited building or land.
Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “bystander” who “drifted with the crowd” and did not go to the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.
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