Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Associated Press reports:
Ray Epps, a onetime Donald Trump supporter who was the target of a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack that forced him into hiding, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot.
Epps, appearing remotely for a hearing in Washington’s federal courthouse, entered his plea on a charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds a day after the case was filed in the Justice Department’s massive Jan. 6 prosecution.
Driven from his Arizona home, the former Marine and ex-member of the Oath Keepers extremist group filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News Channel this year, saying the network was to blame for spreading the baseless claims that led to death threats and bullet casings in his yard.
The Washington Post reports:
Epps, 62, has vigorously denied any links to the government, and Attorney General Merrick Garland today said again in the House Judiciary Committee hearing that “the FBI has said he was not an employee or informant of the FBI.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was loudly skeptical.
“Yesterday you indicted him,” Massie said, “isn’t that a wonderful coincidence? On a misdemeanor. … You’ve got the guy on video who’s saying ‘Go into the Capitol.’ He’s directing people to the Capitol before the speech ends. He’s at the site of the first breach. You’ve got all the goods on him, 10 videos, and it’s an indictment for a misdemeanor? The American public isn’t buying it.”
Epps was allowed to appear by video conference from an undisclosed location, and when a pretrial services officer started to discuss where Epps would have to report for supervision, his lawyer Edward J. Ungvarsky jumped in and made sure it wasn’t revealed.
Via email from Epps’ attorney:
From the very moment that Ray Epps learned the FBI sought to identify him, Ray cooperated and has taken responsibility for his actions. Today’s hearing and the plea agreement reached with the Department of Justice is further proof of that.
It is also powerful evidence of the absurdity of Fox News’s and Tucker Carlson’s lies that sought to turn Ray into a scapegoat for January 6. Had Ray been charged earlier, Fox News would have called him a hero and political prisoner.
Instead, Fox News spread falsehoods about Ray that have cost him his livelihood and safety. And to this day, Fox News has not retracted the lies or even reported on Ray’s prosecution. Fox News should take a lesson from Ray and accept responsibility for its conduct. If it won’t, we are confident that a civil jury will impose that accountability itself.
Ray Epps, Jan. 6 rioter who was subject of conspiracy theories, pleads guilty.
The Donald Trump supporter, who believed the former president’s lies about the 2020 election, was accused of being a federal operative. He is suing Fox News. https://t.co/bxf7spBXVs
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 20, 2023