During the hearing, the 29-year-old Welch spoke briefly to apologize, saying he realized that his words "cannot undo or change what already happened." In a letter filed with the court, he wrote that he is "truly sorry for endangering the safety of any and all bystanders who were present that day," but he didn't talk about the conspiracy theory that motivated him to act, saying just that he came to Washington "with the intent of helping people I believed were in dire need of assistance."