WASHINGTON — The Jan. 6th committee resumed its hearings on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The focus was on one thing: Connecting former President Donald Trump with extremist groups saying that the riots that happened were actually coordinated.
In an infamous tweet from December of 2020, Mr. Trump mentioned a “big protest in DC on January 6th, adding “Be there, will be wild."
Stephen Ayres from Champion Township in Trumbull County has no connection to extremist groups, but he’s one of several people who reposted Mr. Trump's infamous tweet. He was also caught on video entering the U.S. Capitol that day, telling lawmakers that he made the march after being riled up by Trump.
But since then, Ayres no longer believes the election was stolen, and he worries people are continuing to follow what the committee calls Trump's big lie.
"I was hanging on every word he was saying," Ayres told the committee. "Everything he was putting out, I was following it. If I was doing it, millions of other people are doing it, or maybe still doing it. You got people still following doing that, who knows how the next election could come out?"
You can watch Tuesday's January 6th hearing, including Stephen Ayres' testimony in the player below:
Ayres was arrested back in January of last year. He was caught on video inside the Capitol and pleaded guilty to one charge of disorderly and disruptive conduct last month. Sentencing for Ayres is set for September.
After Tuesday's hearing, Ayres approached officers in the committee room who have testified about being verbally and physically attacked by the angry mob. Ayres apologized for his actions to Capitol Police Officers Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn, Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges and former MPD officer Michael Fanone.
The officers appeared to have different responses to Ayres' attempt to make amends.
Fanone told The Associated Press that the apology was not necessary because "it doesn't do s--- for me." Hodges said on CNN that he accepted the apology, adding that "you have to believe that there are people out there who can change."
Gonell, who recently found out that the injuries he succumbed to on Jan. 6 won't allow him to be a part of the force any longer, said he accepted the sentiment from Ayres, but it doesn't amount to much.
"He still has to answer for what he did legally. And to his God. So it's up to him," the former sergeant said.
Dunn, who didn't stand up when Ayres approached him, said he does not accept his apology.
Tuesday marked the seventh committee hearing on January 6th. It was also one of the longest. What’s expected to be the last committee hearing is scheduled for next week.
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