Ray Epps, the man the news media said was the object of conspiracy theorists of the
“60 Minutes,” The New York Times, Adam Kinzinger, and the FBI’s favorite J6 Capitol protester has gotten a slap on the wrist for what sure looked like helping to incite the January 6 riot at the Capitol Building. Why now?
Ray Epps, the man the news media said was the object of conspiracy theorists of the “hard right,” was charged Tuesday with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for his antics at the Capitol Complex on Jan. 6, 2021. It has taken the federal government more than two and a half years to bring the single charge against Ray Epps.
There will be no political gulag in Epps’s future. He will not be moved 13 times, making it difficult for an attorney or family to find him. No, that happened to the “Q Anon Shaman,” as he revealed in my interview on the Adult in the Room Podcast.
Epps likely won’t be thrown in a cell the size of a closet to waste away his days in prison, as many J6 defendants have. He likely will be able to shelter at home for all upcoming news interviews to once again reiterate that he did nothing wrong on Jan. 6. His record will reflect a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge that probably will present no impediment to him for the rest of his life.
It’s likely that Epps, a former member of the Oath Keepers, was charged now because the men the feds wanted to put away, the Proud Boys, have been sentenced.
Some of the Proud Boys were charged with going into the Capitol. Here’s part of the explanation in one of the indictments.
At 12:53 p.m., a group of people forcibly breached the barriers at the pedestrian entrance. A crowd followed, including NORDEAN, BIGGS, REHL, and DONOHOE. Members of the crowd charged past the trampled police barriers. [emphasis added]
Epps spoke to one man before they breached the barriers.
Some of the Proud Boys walked inside the Capitol after other people had breached the barriers and opened the doors.
Other crowd members encouraged and otherwise assisted the forced entry, affording NORDEAN, BIGGS, and REHL the ability to enter the Capitol building.
But Epps’s story is much more complicated than this.
At first, the FBI put Epps on its BOLO list of missing J6ers.
It took the Feds nearly 3 years to charge Epps with a single count. He’s been personally featured on the FBI’s pinned J6 tweet for years. https://t.co/ft4zAxuL2a pic.twitter.com/1jAyT1HNMR
Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 19, 2023
And then, he was inexplicably removed. It was clear that somehow Epps had won favor with a federal Department of Justice that had routinely rounded up J6 suspects first and then threw the book at them later.
This lame single charge tells us everything we need to know about Ray Epps.
No obstruction felony? No civil disorder charge? Not even a trespassing on restricted grounds misdemeanor?
Can’t even tell you the last time I saw an «information» (misdemeanor version of indictment)… pic.
