WASHINGTON – An Indiana man pleaded guilty today to carrying a loaded gun on Capitol grounds and assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Mark Andrew Mazza, 57, of Shelbyville, Indiana, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license.
According to court documents, Mazza brought a Taurus revolver, loaded with three shotgun shells and two hollow point bullets, into Washington, D.C., to the Ellipse, and then to the Capitol. Sometime on U.S. Capitol grounds before 2:45 p.m., Mazza lost possession of the revolver. Mazza illegally made his way to the Lower West Terrace and a tunnel area with doors leading into the Capitol Building. He joined in a collective effort of rioters to push through at least 20 officers who were defending the tunnel entrance. At approximately 3:13 p.m., Mazza moved to the front of the tunnel line, next to the first set of doors. He held open one of the doors, and, as he did so, he allowed other rioters to attack officers with flag poles, batons, sticks and stolen law enforcement shields, and try force their way through the line of officers. Thereafter, he took control of a baton from an officer’s hand and swung it overhead and downward to strike at officers in the tunnel entrance, hitting one officer in the arm. After striking at the officers with the baton, he continued his efforts to get past law enforcement officers and yelled, “This is our f—- house! We own this house!”
After moving back from the front line, he then participated in “heave-ho” efforts to apply significant physical force and pressure on the officers to remove them from the doorway. Mazza was pushed out of the tunnel by law enforcement officers, but he remained on the Capitol grounds until flash bang grenades were deployed by law enforcement officers later that afternoon. On Jan. 8, 2021, according to the documents, Mazza filed a false police report in Indiana in which he claimed to have lost his gun at an Ohio casino.
Mazza was arrested on Nov. 17, 2021, at his home in Shelbyville. He is to be sentenced on Sept. 30, 2022. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison on the charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and up to five years in prison in prison on the firearms charge. Both charges also carry potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
The U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office investigated the case, with valuable assistance from the FBI’s Louisville and Washington Field Offices, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Shelbyville, Indiana Police Department.
In the 17 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 840 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.