Warren man arrested by FBI after involvement in U.S. Capitol riots
A man from Warren has been taken into custody by the FBI on several charges after he was accused of taking part in the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6.
Stephen Ayres, 38, was arrested Monday morning on charges of Obstruction of Justice/Congress, Unlawful Entry into Restricted Buildings or Grounds and Violent Entry or Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds.
According to an affidavit, Ayres was one of the many people who unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol building and had posted a video of himself inside the Capitol building as well as in a hotel room to Facebook later that day.
On January 10, the FBI reviewed the video, which had Ayres, another man and a woman in it, describing what they had seen at the Capitol that day.
The video was also posted to YouTube, titled "It was all ANTIFA breaking into the Capitol 1-6-2021.”
The group claimed that ANTIFA was the organization that led the attacks on the Capitol building and that the police let everyone walk in.
The other man in the video said that the police wanted footage of people inside the Capitol to make it look like they were all Trump supporters, according to the affidavit.
Ayres then said that the “fake news” would not accurately report on what happened at the Capitol but that they had “seen it all” and they “got footage all over the place on the Capitol” and that they would “probably share some of it here and there.”
According to the court filing, they also said that the purpose of that day was to "expose Pence as a traitor" and “the American people are not going to let this slide, especially after today.”
Once law enforcement reviewed surveillance video in the Capitol, they saw what appears to be Ayres and the other man in the video join the large crowd in the Senate lobby.
The FBI was able to identify him through a witness that saw another picture on Ayres social media of him and a group of people at the Lincoln Memorial wearing the same clothes.
Ayres bond was set at $20,000 and he cannot travel to Washington, D.C. and cannot travel outside the Northern District of Ohio.
He has another court date set for February.
The FBI said Ayres is from Warren, even though his address is located in Champion Township.
