Hero Cop Harry Dunn Corrects Woman Who Says He ‘Accepted’ Apology From Jan. 6 Rioter Stephen Ayres

Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn was quick to correct a woman who “accepted” an apology from convicted rioter Stephen Ayres on his behalf.

Ayres — who pled guilty to disorderly conduct in the attack on the Capitol — was among the witnesses at Tuesday’s hearing of the January 6 committee, where he blamed then-President Donald Trump for “riling up” the mob.

Following the hearing, Ayres approached Dunn, as well as fellow hero Jan. 6 cops Michael Fanone and Aquilino Gonell, to procure embraces and offer apologies — all caught on camera.

The moment thrilled journalists and other Twitter users, who circulated photos of the moment. One user named “Miss Lizzy” poignantly captioned a photo of Dunn and Ayres “An apology given and accepted.”

But minutes later, Dunn himself weighed in to correct the impression that many seemed to have taken from the display, writing “Apology given…” following an asterisk.

Dunn also gave several interviews in which he made clear that he “acknowledged” but did not “accept” Ayres’s apology.

On Tuesday night’s edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, Dunn said the same to host Lawrence O’Donnell when he asked Dunn if he had been prepared for the possibility that Ayres might approach him:

It caught me off guard. And, you know, good for him for apologizing. But, you know, he owed an apology to the entire world, to the entire American democracy, to the American people. You know, he, whether he inflicted violence or harm on anybody, he kept us from doing our job that day and he needs to be held accountable. So I acknowledged his apology, but I had other things going on where I’m not accepting it at the moment.

Watch above, via MSNBC.