Court documents reveal new details in case against Hilton and Brockport men charged in Capitol riot

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) – The federal government unsealed documents detailing the alleged involvement of two Rochester-area men accused in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The documents contain photos, videos and the narrative that makes up the government’s case against 28-year-old Cody Mattice of Hilton and James Mault of Brockport.

Mattice was the subject of a detention hearing Tuesday in Rochester. No decision was made Tuesday because the judge said he wants to review the government’s case. He’s expected to make a decision on Friday.

Mault is also accused of breaching the Capitol, but in the documents claims to have gotten caught up in the crowd.

The unsealed documents contain evidence prosecutors say shows Mattice tearing down a barrier and spraying pepper spray into a tunnel where police officers were stationed. During a search warrant at his home in Hilton on Thursday his cell phone was seized.

The government said there is a text on his cell phone that says "I maced a cop ". Also on that phone, when asked by a friend why he stormed the Capital, Mattice allegedly said Trump told us to because of the fraud.

The defense said they have not been able to verify that the cell phone belongs to Mattice, or that no one else has used it to send or receive messages.

The defense argued that Mattice is not a flight risk or a danger to the community. His attorney said if he was going to leave town or do anything dangerous he would have done so by now.

In one video, you can see a man to the left of Mattice praise him for confronting police. Federal authorities have identified that man as Mault.

In pictures, prosecutors say, Mault is wearing a hard hat with local union stickers on it. He appears to be spraying a chemical agent at police officers.

According to court paperwork, Mault’s mother told the FBI her husband, Gary Mault, drove a bus of about five people, including her son, to the protest in D.C.

Mault was then interviewed by the FBI. He told the agent he wore his hard hat because members of Antifa were known to attack Trump supporters. He also told authorities he had no choice but to move toward the Capitol Building because he was being pushed by the crowd.

According to this arrest warrant, Mault was taken into custody last Thursday, the same day Mattice was arrested.

Mattice was arrested at his home in Hilton and malt was arrested in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Mault’s family told News10NBC he was arrested in Fort Bragg because that is where he was stationed in the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army confirmed to News10NBC that Mault enlisted in May of 2021.

Mault’s family said he previously served in the Army and was deployed in Kuwait, Syria and Iraq.

Mault is now in a federal facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His family also told News10NBC that they feel the feds are trying to group him in with "radicals" and that while he was at the Capitol, he didn’t engage in any "insurrection" they say their son may well have been in restricted areas but that the boundaries and barricades had been changing and confusing, and they insist he never fought with police.

The warrant issued for Mattice by DC Federal Court says he lives on Trimmer Road in Hilton. The warrant has a list of charges on it detailing the alleged connection to the riots at the Capitol. Those charges include: weapons offenses, assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, and act of physical violence in the U.S. Capitol.

Dominic Pezzola, 43, from Rochester, is also accused of being in the mob that overran the Capitol. The U.S. Attorney’s office says Pezzola was recognized in video clips using a stolen police riot shield and smashed a window to get inside the capitol.