The New York Times is under fire for running a “woe is me” piece about the infamous Ray Epps, the Jan. 6th rioter who suspiciously hasn’t been charged with anything despite being filmed encouraging “Stop the Steal” protesters to “go into the Capitol.”
Because of all the video footage of Epps, there’s been a going theory on the right that perhaps he’s a federal agent who’d purposefully helped instigate the riot. But to hear the Times’ tell it, this theory has ruined the man’s life.
“Ray Epps has suffered enormously in the past 10 months as right-wing media figures and Republican politicians have baselessly described him as a covert government agent who helped to instigate the attack on the Capitol last year,” the piece reads.
“Strangers have assailed him as a coward and a traitor and have menacingly cautioned him to sleep with one eye open. He was forced to sell his business and his home in Arizona. Fearing for his safety and uncertain of his future, he and his wife moved into a mobile home in the foothills of the Rockies, with all of their belongings crammed into shipping containers in a high-desert meadow, a mile or two away.”
“And for what — lies? All of this, it’s just been hell,” Epps said to the Times.
Ray Epps has suffered enormously in the past 10 months as right-wing media figures and Republican politicians have baselessly described him as a covert government agent who helped to instigate the attack on the Capitol last year. @alanfeuer https://t.co/fDMuiqbHxu
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) July 13, 2022
Obscure right-wing media outlets, like Revolver News, used selectively edited videos and unfounded leaps of logic to paint him as a secret federal asset in charge of a “breach team” responsible for setting off the riot at the Capitol.
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) July 13, 2022
But critics have pushed back with fury.
One, they’ve argued that life has been far more hellish for the numerous Jan. 6th rioters who were arrested and charged for essentially doing his bidding and entering the Capitol.
Look:
It’s been hell? He’s not holed up in jail, is he?
— billhughes1776🇺🇸 (@billhug78772847) July 14, 2022
Wrong. It’s been hell for the political prisoners held for illegal parading.
— Ultra MightyJimbo (@MightyJimbo) July 14, 2022
But not so much hell as those arrested & sitting in prison for 18 months without seeing family. GITMO prisoners were treated better.
— Kim Hedum #LGBFJB (@coyotered9) July 14, 2022
Life is hell for the man who was not arrested despite apparently telling people to remove barriers showing areas protesters were not to go. Not for the people arrested and held without bail for over a year for … checks notes … going past barriers that weren’t there.
— RandomFlyer (@AtplTuition) July 14, 2022
Two, they’ve pushed back with evidence of Epp’s culpability, including video footage of him encouraging “Stop the Steal” protesters to “go into the Capitol.”
Look:
Yup. He’s a victim. pic.twitter.com/9Irfksbhz9
— unfetturd (@unfetturd) July 13, 2022
I saw the videos. Ray Epps was inciting an insurrection. No doubt about it. Ray Epps should be charged.
— janet m (@JmannoJanet) July 14, 2022
You have a very low opinion of Americans who you know SAW, multiple times, on video, Epps inciting those around him…yet you think your sob propaganda story will override what our eyes witnessed.
— Mindwalker 🍊 (@JustMe05791813) July 14, 2022
Watching Epps repeatedly tell people to breach the Capitol is kinda like seeing Hunter Biden smoke crack. You don’t need to watch 45 min of video to know that those things happened. What happened before and after is irrelevant. It’s just about whether they did what we saw them do
— 1984 Was Not An Instruction Manual (@wgrice03) July 14, 2022
And three, they’ve drawn attention to the FBI’s refusal to disown Epps.
Testifying before the Senate back in January, top FBI official Jill Sanborn was asked point-blank by Sen. Ted Cruz whether Epp’s a “fed.”
In response, Sanborn refused to say “no.” Instead, she said that she “cannot answer.”
Listen:
4/x I asked the FBI: “Was Ray Epps a fed?”
FBI: “I cannot answer that question.”
Questions about Ray Epps & his disappearance from the FBI’s public posting is a matter of public accountability for the FBI and the American people deserve real answers. pic.twitter.com/nkC85wvCll
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 11, 2022
Sanborn was also asked whether any undercover FBI agents had actively participated in the riot. Again she refused to just say “no.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson responded to her testimony at the time by saying, “That tells you a lot.”
Listen:
It’s clear the DOJ had some role in the events of January 6 pic.twitter.com/aR8SaiNZoU
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 12, 2022
Of Epps’ own culpability, the Times portrays his actions as mere mistakes that he now regrets.
“Mr. Epps also said he regretted sending a text to his nephew, well after the violence had erupted, in which he discussed how he helped to orchestrate the movements of people who were leaving Mr. Trump’s speech near the White House by pointing them in the direction of the Capitol,” the piece reads.
“Mr. Epps further acknowledged that while he moved past barricades into a restricted area of the Capitol grounds, he did not go into the building itself. The vast majority of those who did not enter the building or commit additional crimes have not been charged. By the time the violence started spreading, Mr. Epps had already left the Capitol, having helped to get a sick protester to safety.”
Critics aren’t buying this narrative either:
It’s also interesting that he claims he immediately regretted saying go “in” the Capital, but the article admits that, AFTER VIOLENCE BROKE OUT, Epps texted that helped guide the crowd to the Capital. That doesn’t seem like regret. pic.twitter.com/PwIH1Q8haq
— Whiskey Mike (@WBMingin) July 14, 2022
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