A Jan. 6 rioter awaiting sentencing apologized to a number of U.S. Capitol Police officers after he testified during Tuesday’s House select committee hearing.
Stephen Ayres testified before the committee on Tuesday about the riot and what led to it. He is facing jail time for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6.
After Tuesday’s hearing concluded, Ayres made his way over to Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone and Aquilino Gonnell, three officers who were at the Capitol as it was overrun.
Video captured by C-SPAN showed him speaking individually with each man and shaking their hands.
Politico’s Kyle Cheney captured the moment and spoke to Fanone afterward.
Other angles on the moment soon made their way out to media.
Oliver Contreras/AFP, via Getty Images
Washington Post‘s Jacqueline Alemany shared video of the “extraordinary moment.”
Ryan Reilly of NBC News reported a woman skipped over by Ayres is Erin Smith, widow of Capitol officer Jeffrey Smith who committed suicide after the riot.
Ayres came back to Smith a few moments later and the two
Ayres told the committee he stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 because he felt former President Donald Trump called on him to do so.
“Well, basically the president got everybody riled up, told everybody to head on down. So we basically–we were just following what he said,” Ayres said.
He said that after attending Trump’s morning rally on the day of the riot, he felt “angry” and joined others who converged on the Capitol.
He has said since his arrest he views Trump’s stolen election claims as baseless.
Ayres pleaded guilty to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building in June, the New York Times reported. He will be sentenced for the misdemeanor in September.
Watch above, via C-SPAN.