Riot suspect who accused Democrats of ‘treason’ to testify before Jan. 6 committee: report

by Julia Mueller - 07/11/22 8:29 PM ET

AP-J. Scott Applewhite
A video is shown the committee claims shows Proud Boys entering the Capitol on Jan. 6th, as committee members from left to right, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., look on, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol will hear testimony Tuesday from a riot suspect who accused President Biden of “treason” and warned of “civil war” if former President Trump did not stay in power.

Stephen Ayres of Warren, Ohio, admitted to illegally entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to an ABC News report.

“Mainstream media, social media, Democrat party, FISA courts, Chief Justice John Roberts, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, etc….all have committed TREASON against a sitting U.S. president!!! All are now put on notice by ‘We The People!'” Ayres reportedly wrote on Facebook shortly before heading to Washington, D.C.

Ayres also shared on Facebook a Dec. 19, 2020, tweet from Trump that is expected to be a major focus of Tuesday’s hearing.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump wrote in the Tweet. “Be there, will be wild!”

In another message, Ayres allegedly wrote, “If the [deep state] robs president Trump!!! Civil War will ensue!”

The committee will also hear Tuesday from a former spokesperson for the far-right militia group Oath Keepers, Jason Van Tatenhove, as it examines extremist groups’ role in the riots.

Van Tatenhove said in a post on the website of his podcast, “The Colorado Switchblade,” that his testimony would give the committee “a historical overview of the Oath Keepers and violent militias.”

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