Officer says he accepted apology from Jan. 6 witness who stormed Capitol

U.S. Capitol Police Staff Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said that he accepted the apology rendered by Capitol riot defendant Stephen Ayres.

In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday, Gonell told host John Berman that Ayres “basically apologized and said he was sorry and I accepted his apology.”

He added that he is not a “vindictive” person and that he believed Ayres “somehow still had to answer to the judge criminally” as well as “to his maker” for his actions on the day of the insurrection.

However, Gonell added that he believes that Ayres’s apology should have been directed first at Erin Smith, the widow of Jeffrey Smith, an officer with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) who died by suicide after responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

He added that Smith was sitting next to him but Ayres “didn’t bother to stop.”

According to Gonell, Smith’s husband died not because of what Ayres did, but because of what he was a part of.

He added that it wasn’t up to him to decide if Ayres apologized for optics or a photo opportunity or because he was looking for “leniency from a judge.”

“I’ll take it for what it is,” he added.

Ayres, who testified Tuesday before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, apologized to a group of police officers who defended the Capitol during the riot following the panel’s presentation.

He approached Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, former MPD Officer Michael Fanone, MPD Officer Daniel Hodges and Gonell.

However, Fanone told reporters after the exchange: “No apology necessary,” according to Politico.

He said the apology “doesn’t really do shit for me.”

It was revealed by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) during Tuesday’s hearing that Gonell was told by his doctors that the permanent injuries he suffered to his left shoulder and right foot now make it impossible for him to continue as a police officer.

Gonell said he is now planning his retirement after sustaining injuries during the Jan. 6 riot.

He shared that he just passed his lieutenant’s test and “instead of planning a celebration … I am now planning my retirement and the rest of my life with these injuries.”