What to Know
- A court document on Wednesday charged Cody Mattice, 28, and James Mault, 29, with multiple federal offenses, including assaulting police officers, related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
- Both Mault and Mattice, from Brockport, NY, were arrested last week and appeared before a court on Friday.
- Video evidence revealed that Mault and Mattice spraying a chemical agent towards police officers.
Two men from the Rochester area have been charged in a federal indictment with pepper-spraying police officers during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to court documents unsealed Wednesday, Cody Mattice, 28, and James Mault, 29, each face charges including engaging in physical violence with a deadly or dangerous weapon while in a restricted building.
Prosecutors say photos and videos from the Capitol breach show Mattice tearing down a barrier and spraying pepper spray into a tunnel where officers were stationed.
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Mattice was arrested last week at his home in Hilton, New York.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey said during a detention hearing in Rochester on Tuesday that a text on Mattice’s cellphone sent to a friend or family member said, “I also maced a cop.”
WHEC-TV reports that an attorney for Mattice questioned whether the cellphone belonged to Mattice.
News
The defense said Mattice is not a flight risk or a danger to the community. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen reserved judgment until Friday.
According to prosecutors, Mault, of Brockport, New York, is identifiable in photos and videos from the Capitol area in a hard hat covered with stickers including one from Ironworkers Local 33 Rochester.
Mault told the FBI agent who interviewed him that he wore his hard hat because members of Antifa were known to attack Trump supporters, prosecutors said.
Mault was arrested last week in Fort Bragg, where he has been stationed in the U.S. Army, and is being held in a federal facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.
According to the indictment, photos from the Capitol show Mault spraying a chemical agent toward police officers.
Mault’s family members told WHEC that that while Mault was at the Capitol, he did not engage in insurrection and never fought with police.
Over 600 individuals have been arrested for crimes related to the breaching of the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6th. 185 of those individuals were charged with assaulting law enforcement.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the investigation remains ongoing.
