(Video Credit: CNN)
A Jan. 6 defendant admitted that he used a baton on officers and brought a loaded gun to the Capitol during the 2021 protest, proclaiming that if he had found Nancy Pelosi, he’d “be here for another reason.”
Mark Mazza, 57, who is from Indiana, pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges. He originally denied any wrongdoing that day but was reportedly caught on video showing him swinging a stolen baton at officers. Another video clip allegedly shows Mazza holding open a door so other protesters could enter the Capitol building, while shouting, “We own this house!”
Mazza “showed no remorse” according to CNN host Jake Tapper who spoke about the protester at the beginning of his show on Friday, adding that his case “does not sound like the peaceful protests, the tourists that some GOP lawmakers insist actually were there on January 6th.”
Mazza’s signed statement from May recounts the agreed-upon facts of his case with federal authorities, according to Law & Crime.
“When one MPD officer was using his metal collapsible baton to push back the rioters, Mazza took control of the baton from the officer’s hand,” the statement of offense charges. “Mazza then armed himself with the baton and swung the baton overhead and downward to strike at the officers in the tunnel entrance. Mazza’s baton struck MPD Officer P.N. in the arm. After striking at the officers with the baton, Mazza yelled at the officers, ‘This is our f***ing house! We own this house! We want our house! Get out of the citizen of the United States’ way!’”
January 6 *gun*
Mark Mazza of Indiana has pleaded guilty & signed a statement of facts acknowledging he carried, then lost a "firearm while in a crowd of people who were involved in violence against law enforcement inside the tunnel area on the West Front" pic.twitter.com/mdM8LZ59cW
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 17, 2022
Mazza evidently cut a plea deal with the feds over his part in the protest on Jan. 6. He admitted that he wore a holster under his shirt carrying a Taurus revolver that was reportedly loaded with hollow-point bullets while attending the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse and then later on at the Capitol, but lost the weapon at some point before he grappled with the police in the Lower West Terrace tunnel.
Rioters allegedly chanted “Nancy! Nancy!” as they stormed the Capitol and swarmed the Speaker of the House’s offices inside. An unrepentant Mazza told authorities he wished he could have found Pelosi, reportedly admitting he would “be here for another reason” if he had actually found her.
Once inside the tunnel that day, Mazza reportedly blocked police officers as “other rioters used flag poles, batons, sticks, and stolen law enforcement shields as weapons to strike at, hit, and try to force their way through” the police line, according to the plea agreement. That’s when he stole a police officer’s baton and then allegedly used it against the officers guarding the tunnel entrance.
The plea agreement contends that after Mazza was forced out of the tunnel by officers, he “took steps to assist” Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was allegedly dragged into the crowd and beaten. Mazza “was in close physical proximity to (Fanone) and took steps to assist the officer from being further assaulted by members of the riot,” the agreement states.
BREAKING: Shelbyville man pleads GUILTY to carrying gun in U.S. Capitol on January 6, and to assaulting officer.
Mark Mazza, 57, faces maximum of 20 years in prison.@WISH_TV @93wibc pic.twitter.com/l9jMPGY2TK— Brady Gibson (@bradygibson) June 17, 2022
Mazza left Capitol grounds only after police deployed flash-bang grenades later that day, the agreement contends.
CNN is reporting that Mazza was apprehended after he filed a false police report claiming the baton was stolen from his car.
“Federal investigators found Mazza after he falsely reported the weapon he brought to the riot was stolen on January 8, 2021, claiming it was taken from his car at an Ohio casino. He later told investigators he fabricated the claim because he feared members of Antifa might find the gun and his name was ‘all over it,” CNN stated.
Mazza pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for charges against the officers and up to five years in prison for the firearms charge.
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