The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot showed Tuesday the pull Donald Trump’s words had on his supporters, using the vivid personal account of Stephen Ayres, who illegally breached the building that day, to drive home its point.
Ayres, who pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct in a restricted building, said he learned about the “Stop the Steal” rally on social media and long believed the election was stolen from Trump. He said it “definitely” would have made a difference if he knew at that time the former president actually possessed no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Ayres told the committee he “may not have come down” to the Capitol from Ohio, had he known that. Since Jan. 6, Ayres lost his job and sold his house, something he said changed his life — but “definitely not for the better.”
