“You dressed up as a caveman and acted a role like a fantasy game,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg told Aaron Mostofsky as he was sentenced to eight months in prison.
Aaron Mostofsky, Dressed Like Caveman, Stole Police Vest and Riot Shield
On May 6, Aaron Mostofsky, 35, of Brooklyn, NY, was to eight months in prison for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
According to court documents, Mostofsky – dressed as a caveman and carrying a walking stick or rod – was among the crowd gathered at 12:55 p.m. on Jan. 6 as rioters overwhelmed a police perimeter stationed near the Peace Circle, due west of the Capitol building. He and other rioters then reached the West Plaza. At about 1:35 p.m., he joined a group of rioters pushing against a police line that was attempting to limit the crowd’s access to the Capitol. Mostofsky used his weight and strength in the effort to break the police line. At about 2:09 p.m., he climbed exterior stairs to the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace, heading to the Senate Wing Door.
Enroute, he picked up a U.S. Capitol Police bullet-proof vest and donned it. Minutes later, the crowd broke windows next to the Senate Wing Door, entered the Capitol, and broke the door open from inside the building. Mostofsky entered through the door at 2:13 p.m., about the 12th person to get inside that way. He quickly picked up a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield that had been set aside by another rioter. He followed the crowd to a staircase, where they pursued a U.S. Capitol Police Officer upstairs and into the Ohio Clock Corridor, just outside the Senate Chamber. At approximately 2:36 p.m., after giving an interview to a reporter, Mostofsky left the building, taking the police vest and riot shield with him. He was stripped of the shield by a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
Mostofsky was arrested on Jan. 12, 2021, in Brooklyn. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 2, 2022, to a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor charges of theft of government property and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The case is being investigated by the FBI’s New York and Washington Field Offices, which identified Mostofsky as #24 in its seeking information photos.
Aaron Mostofsky is the son of State Supreme Court Judge Steven Mostofsky, from Brooklyn. Published reports wrote that Aaron thought that his father could help “get him out of trouble.” But when asked, Judge Mostofsky said he knew nothing about his son’s actions.
The other serious matter in this case is that Aaron Mostofsky ended up with the vest and sheild of a Capitol police officer, and several officers ended up getting seriously injuried. If those protective items were taken from the same officers who got hurt, Mostofsky’s foolish actions parading around inside the Capitol are even more obscene.
