{"id":1558469,"date":"2022-07-17T12:34:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T16:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1558469"},"modified":"2022-07-17T12:34:15","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T16:34:15","slug":"ny-times-sympathetic-profile-of-mysterious-january-6-figure-ray-epps-only-raises-more-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-times-sympathetic-profile-of-mysterious-january-6-figure-ray-epps-only-raises-more-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Times Sympathetic Profile Of Mysterious January 6 Figure Ray Epps Only Raises More Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fny-times-sympathetic-profile-of-mysterious-january-6-figure-ray-epps-only-raises-more-questions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1558469&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A glowing profile of Ray Epps published last week by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/new-york-times\">The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0has done little to quell suspicions on the right that the self-professed onetime\u00a0Trump supporter had a mystery role in the January 6\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/capitol-riot\">Capitol riot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Epps, a 61-year-old Arizona man, is seen in multiple video clips from January 6 and the day before trying to whip up other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/donald-trump\">Trump<\/a> supporters to \u201cgo into the Capitol\u201d the next day. Whether by virtue of his own size and air of authority or some unknown factor, Epps appears in many clips to be taking on a leadership role among Trump supporters who showed up to protest what they believed was a stolen 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, tomorrow, I don\u2019t even like to say it cause I\u2019ll be arrested,\u201d Epps <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepThomasMassie\/status\/1451272067173736455\">tells<\/a> a man filming him with a phone camera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, let\u2019s not say it,\u201d the man responds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll say it. We need to go into the Capitol,\u201d Epps says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to put it out there. I\u2019m probably going to go to jail for this. Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol, into the Capitol!\u201d Epps tells fellow protesters in\u00a0another clip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat? No! No!\u201d members of the crowd respond in unison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeacefully!\u201d Epps adds.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd of Trump supporters then starts chanting, \u201cFed! Fed! Fed!\u201d at Epps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay folks, spread the word. As soon as the president is done speaking we go to the Capitol. The Capitol is this direction,\u201d Epps tells a crowd in a clip from the next day, January 6.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s done speaking! We are going to the Capitol where our problems are. It\u2019s that direction. Please spread the word,\u201d Epps shouts at passersby in another clip.<\/p>\n<p>Over and over again, at least four times on video, Epps repeats his call to action.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just played this video for AG Merrick Garland. He refused to comment on how many agents or assets of the federal government were present in the crowd on Jan 5th and 6th and how many entered the Capitol. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lvd9n4mMHK\">pic.twitter.com\/lvd9n4mMHK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepThomasMassie\/status\/1451272067173736455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Later, while the vast majority of MAGA supporters were still near the National Mall where Trump was speaking, Epps is seen at the front of the very first crowd that breached the security perimeter around the Capitol. Moments before the crowd pushes past Capitol police officers, Epps whispers something into fellow protester Ryan Samsel\u2019s ear. Later in January, Epps and Samsel both told the FBI separately that Epps had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/05\/us\/jan-6-ray-epps-evidence.html\">encouraging<\/a> Samsel to relax because the cops were just \u201cdoing their job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No charges were ever filed against Epps for his role in the riot.<\/p>\n<p>The unproven theory that Epps, a member of the right-wing group the Oath Keepers, was working with the federal government, perhaps persuaded by the FBI to turn informant for protection, was first floated on a 4chan message board last summer and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revolver.news\/2021\/10\/meet-ray-epps-the-fed-protected-provocateur-who-appears-to-have-led-the-very-first-1-6-attack-on-the-u-s-capitol\/\">taken up<\/a> by Revolver News, the right-wing media outlet started by\u00a0former Trump speechwriter Darren Beattie. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ylYF6-sZkgM\">discussed<\/a> the Epps theory several times on his show. Even Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reallizusa\/status\/1482551602661761025?s=21\">mentioned<\/a> Epps at a rally, and the\u00a0hashtag #WhoIsRayEpps trended on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>In the Times\u2019 profile of Epps, which <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nytimes\/status\/1547249552486449153\">referred<\/a> to Epps as a \u201cvictim,\u201d criminal justice reporter\u00a0Alan Feuer\u00a0acknowledged that Epps was \u201cnot just a bystander\u201d on January 6 but said that his role was \u201ctwisted\u201d as the FBI asset theory gained momentum.<\/p>\n<p>Revolver News used \u201cselectively edited videos and unfounded leaps of logic\u201d to try to show Epps was a government plant, the Times claimed.\u00a0It\u2019s not clear what \u201cselectively edited\u201d means in this case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings became significantly worse\u201d for Epps after Carlson and top Republicans began to \u201camplify the lies,\u201d the Times article said, and meanwhile Trump, whom Epps had supported, \u201ctarred his name and destroyed his reputation.\u201d\u00a0Epps has \u201csuffered enormously,\u201d and his\u00a0\u201clife has been ruined by a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory,\u201d the Times lamented.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the Times said Epps was taped urging people to go \u201cto the Capitol,\u201d strange phrasing since Epps clearly states again and again that he wants protesters to go \u201cinto the Capitol\u201d specifically.<\/p>\n<p>Nowhere in the Times article does Feuer appear to press Epps, who he says wore a look of \u201cpained exhaustion\u201d during the interview, on why exactly he wanted protesters to physically enter the Capitol building or why he happened to be at the front of the crowd when they penetrated the security perimeter.<\/p>\n<p>The Times\u2019 treatment of Epps is gentle compared to its coverage of other January 6 participants, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/10\/opinion\/january-6-hearing-trump.html\">dubbing<\/a> them in a June editorial, \u201cflag-draped thugs storming the halls\u201d and a \u201chowling mob\u201d that \u201crampaged through the Capitol\u201d as part of a \u201ccoordinated assault.\u201d In January, the Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/07\/us\/politics\/jan-6-terrorism-explainer.html\">gave oxygen<\/a>\u00a0to the idea that some of the events of January 6 could be considered domestic terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most eyebrow-raising details of the Epps case is that Epps was mysteriously removed from the FBI\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/wanted\/capitol-violence\">wanted list<\/a> as federal investigators poured money and resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A glowing profile of Ray Epps published last week by\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0has done little to quell suspicions on the right that the self-professed onetime\u00a0Trump supporter had a mystery role in the January 6\u00a0Capitol riot. Epps, a 61-year-old Arizona man, is seen in multiple video clips from January 6 and the day before trying to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1574141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1558469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1558469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1558469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1558469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1558469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}