Thread by @ryanjreilly

Hearing underway shortly on the detention of Cody Mattice, a "stay-at-home dad” who attacked cops on Jan. 6.

DOJ: “the defendant’s care of his children is commendable. But the needs of his children… did not stop him from using pepper spray against officers.” #FenceSnatcher

Government also argues Mattice’s mother, brother, sister, aunt, and fiancée all either "encouraged him to riot, supported his choice to do so, or condoned his behavior after-the-fact.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

"Cody from Rochester.mp4” will be part of the record.

https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1446948428576174085/

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell references Mattice’s texts to his aunt saying he had “maced a cop.”

“Awesomeness!” his aunt, Rebecca Evert-Keller, responded.

https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1451216488757612547

"He is humorous and always puts a smile on my face, and makes me laugh,” Aunt Becca wrote in her letter to the judge.

Government says Cody Mattice and James Mault attacked cops with spray about 20 minutes before members of the mob began kidnapping cops. huffpost.com/entry/cody-mat…

Speaking about the ongoing threat, a federal prosecutor brought up the fact that supporters of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin pledged allegiance to a flag that was carried on Jan. 6. (He also noted that the candidate condemned it.)

That was news to Judge Howell.

Judge Howell asks Mattice’s attorney John Machado how it’s helpful for Mattice to be surrounded by family members who think he’s a “patriot” and a “hero” instead of a criminal who engaged in an attack that was “an embarrassment to this country around the globe."

Judge Howell points to videos showing Mattice saying that him and “his little group” were going to “fuck shit up.”

Howell is wondering how she can ignore the “fuck shit up” video.

Mattice’s attorney tries to call the “fuck shit up” quote more of a political statement.

Mattice was “caught in the moment” and didn’t even know what he sprayed, his lawyer said. They aren’t disputing what appeared on video. Mattice “did what he did” but he doesn’t have a criminal past and hasn’t done anything since Jan. 6, he argues.

Judge Howell says Mattice expressed plans before hand, he knocked the barrier over, and he pepper sprayed cops.

“He literally is climbing over a mass of rioters… He almost lost his pants, he’s flashing his underwear… to spray things at officers.”

"Why isn’t that dangerous?"

Judge Howell says officers were “valiantly” trying to hold the line at the tunnel, and that if Cody Mattice didn’t get inside the Capitol, it’s not for lack of trying.

Judge Howell: “His actions were taken on behalf of a mob.”

Notes that three officers were pulled out into the mob 20 minutes later.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to say that this defendant’s actions caused no harm… putting aside the harm to this country’s democratic institutions.”

Prosecutor also quotes Mattice texting “Yooooo!!!! That’s fucking dope!!” when Mault told him he’d got him pepper spray and a baton.

Judge Howell is now beginning to rule on whether Cody Mattice will be held pre-trial.

Mattice’s “fuck shit up” quote makes another appearance in her ruling.

#FenceSnatcher

Howell: Seeing the result of his confrontation with police and ripping down the barrier was not enough, he then went to the tunnel. “A massive group of angry rioters” gathered at the tunnel, she says. She also mentions again that he almost lost his pants.

Mault, by the way, was ordered detained by a federal magistrate judge in North Carolina, where he’d moved because he was able to reenlist in the U.S. Army after he participated in the insurrection. huffpost.com/entry/james-ma…

Howell: “This defendant threatened and confronted law enforcement officials… He also attempted to injure others…” Says text messages with Mault demonstrate prior planning.

Howell: Mattice had every intention of coming to the Capitol with the plan to “fuck shit up.”