Records: Brockport man charged in Capitol riot determined to be safety risk, case turned over to federal courts

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A Brockport man accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has been detained, and will have his case turned over to federal courts, documents unsealed Thursday show.

James Mault is accused of breaching the Capitol that day, but in initial documents unsealed Wednesday, he claims to have gotten caught up in the crowd.

The Thursday documents, based out of federal courts in North Carolina, show Mault was determined to be a safety risk to the community during a detention hearing Wednesday. As we told you, Mault was being held in a federal facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His 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. The documents unsealed Thursday showed It was his job in the Army (at Fort Bragg) that brought him and his immediate family to the area. His re-enlistment in the Army came after the apparent loss of the job he had been doing in New York because of his alleged participation in the riot.

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

Mault’s name was first revealed in the documents on Wednesday. The documents contain photos, videos, and the narrative that makes up the government’s case against 28-year-old Cody Mattice of Hilton, and Mault.

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.

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.

In one video, you can see a man to the left of Mattice praise him for confronting the 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.

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.

He was arrested the same day as Mattice.

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.

Mault was turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.