Right-wing media move the goal posts on their Ray Epps conspiracy theories after he’s charged for January 6

Written by Jack Wheatley

Published

Right-wing media have had to quickly adjust their conspiracy theories around January 6 participant Ray Epps after he was charged on September 19 with one misdemeanor count in connection with the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. As reported by NBC News, “Epps is not charged with entering the Capitol; he is only known to have been on the grounds on Jan. 6.”

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  • Background

    • Epps has been the center of a flurry of debunked far-right conspiracy theories, most notably propagated by disgraced former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, positing he was an undercover federal agent inciting people to storm the Capitol. In July, Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Carlson for their role in bolstering these accusations. The recent developments in Epps’ case haven’t quelled these theories, and in many cases, have bolstered it. [PolitiFact, 11/17/21; Media Matters, 1/19/22, 7/14/23]
    • Julie Kelly and Darren Beattie have been two of the foremost proponents of the baseless false flag conspiracy theories surrounding Epps and the January 6 Capitol attack. Kelly has spent years questioning the results of the 2020 election, accusing a former D.C. police officer of being a “crisis actor,” and advocating on behalf of insurrectionists, particularly Proud Boys, by claiming they are victims of a widespread plot by the government to target Trump supporters. Beattie has been a frequent guest on Fox News spreading lies about January 6, calling it “a clear hoax” carried out by “the feds,” and has attacked Epps in the past. Beattie was previously a member of the Trump administration before being fired for attending a white nationalist conference. [Media Matters, 5/31/23, 6/16/21, 4/27/22, 2/17/22] 
    • On September 19, Kelly and Beattie co-hosted a “Space” on X (formerly Twitter) to discuss the charge against Epps. Beattie alleged that Epps is getting treated with a “sympathetic posture” by the “regime media” compared to other defendants. Adding on to other theories that Epps was a federal agent of some kind, Beattie alleged that Epps may have been recruited from the Marines to conduct covert ops: “A lot of these very egregious and suspicious players have a background in the Marines. So is there some kind of program to recruit, you know, former Marines who kind of want to do some interesting work after retirement?” He went on to ask, “Why is Epps so aggressively protected? What was he involved in before?” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]

  • Kelly and Beattie were also vocal in their posts to X and in other media appearances.

    • Kelly wrote “This lame single charge tells us everything we need to know about Ray Epps.” Kelly went on to question why Epps wasn’t charged with more crimes, demanding, “No obstruction felony? No civil disorder charge? Not even a trespassing on restricted grounds misdemeanor?” In another post, Kelly wrote that “At the very least, he should have been charged with 1512(c)(2).” [Twitter/X, 09/19/23] [Twitter/X, 09/19/23]
    • Kelly also argued that a single charge like the one filed against Epps “is exceedingly rare” and that the only other one she claimed to have found was a member of the Proud Boys. She added in another post, “Recall at least 15 FBI informants were in the Proud Boys before and on Jan 6.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Beattie claimed, “Charging Ray Epps now for ‘disorderly conduct’ is not going to make the Feds' credibility problem go away.” Beattie additionally called Epps’ case “a phony charge” that “will only make things worse for the Fed narrative.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Beattie claimed, “This is the clumsiest coverup job i've ever seen,” and suggested the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was a false flag. He also posted, “Attention DOJ, FBI, this is not going to go away just because you decided to burn epps with a bogus slap on wrist charge… At least do us the courtesy of a high effort cover up like you did with OKC.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Beattie took to former Trump strategist Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast to call the charge against Epps “some petty, ridiculous, sloppy, bungling, absolutely unconvincing joke of a misdemeanor.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 9/19/23]
    • On The Charlie Kirk Show, Kelly said Epps getting charged “certainly does not do what the corporate media said yesterday, and that is exonerate Ray Epps and prove that he is a victim of right-wing conspiracy theorists like me and Tucker Carlson and others who have questioned the role of Ray Epps and why he remained uncharged almost three years later.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 9/20/23] 

  • Others in right-wing media have also shifted the goal posts of their conspiracy theories about Epps.

    • The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro said that “slap-on-the-wrist charges post facto don’t look much like justice to the vast majority of people who watch this stuff play out.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 9/20/23]
    • Fox News host Mark Levin shared The Post Millenial’s write-up of Epps’ charge and posted: “FBI coverup?” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted, “Not suspicious at all! Nearly 3 years after J6, Ray Epps is finally charged ... with ‘disorderly conduct.’” He then added, “Everything is on the level folks.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Daily Wire host Michael Knowles posted, “Everyone is jumping to conclusions about Ray Epps. But I, for one, say Agent Epps is innocent until proven guilty.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • On his Daily Wire show, Knowles said there’s a “compelling theory” that Ray Epps is “a fed.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 9/20/23]
    • Right-wing internet troll Catturd noted Epp’s misdemeanor charge with laughing emojis, saying, “You're not fooling anyone Feds.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Newsmax’s Sebastian Gorka wrote, “No ‘seditious conspiracy.’ No ‘terrorist enhancement.’ I wonder why? I think you know.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Right-wing internet troll Ian Miles Cheong posted that “Ray Epps, the man in all the Capitol videos who instructed others to storm the Capitol, has been charged with a misdemeanor for disruptive conduct on restricted grounds.” He continued, “Meanwhile, men who weren't even present at the event have been sentenced to years in prison.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Right-wing account @amuse posted on X that “NBC called @TuckerCarlson's claim that Ray Epps was inciting J6 protesters a ‘conspiracy theory’. Now that the Biden regime has indicted Epps for his involvement on J6 will NBC start calling Garland and Biden conspiracy theorists?” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Far-right influencer Rogan O’Handley, known online as DC_Draino, said, “Let’s see if he’s treated the same as other J6 defendants or if the regime gives him special Fed treatment!” In another tweet, he added, “We all know what his role was that day & who he worked for.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Failed Republican Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake claimed, “This isn't normal. There's so much more to this story than they're telling us.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Antisemitic troll and January 6 participant Tim Gionet, also known as Baked Alaska, asked, “Why does Ray Epps have a PLEA AGREEMENT HEARING the NEXT DAY AFTER HE WAS CHARGED ??!!!! Why wasn’t Epps raided & detained by 20 US Marshalls like myself & 1000’s of other patriots?!!!! Why is he getting this special treatment ??!!! I didn’t have a plea hearing until 2 years after being charged!!! This is the smoking gun right here!” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Former Fox News contributor Monica Crowley complained about Epps charge exposing supposed double standards for other January 6 insurrectionists, saying, “We cannot go on like this.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Conservative writer Tom Elliot posted, “Unlike the major media, we don’t have to pretend we’re stupid; Occam’s razor explains why the feds weren’t pursuing Ray Epps despite him being a 1/6 ringleader.” After claiming double standards in the charges for Epps and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Young claimed the media “didn’t want to stumble upon the truth & have to report it. This slap on the wrist gives them a way to avoid doing so.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • On X, Washington Times columnist Tim Young went on a tirade claiming that Epps “won’t spend years in jail,” and that the charges against him are “still not going to convince anyone that he's not a fed.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Replying to a post saying Epps’ charge “smells like Feds covering something up.” BlazeTV host Steve Deace said, “It smells like it, because that's exactly what it is. Operation Fig Leaf -- charge Ray Epps and Hunter Biden with basically jaywalking so you can charge your enemies with whatever you want -- is in motion.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Discussing Epps’ charge on his BlazeTV show, Deace said, “Biden's polling numbers are dropping. That's why they're doing it now.” [BlazeTV, The Steve Deace Show, 9/20/23]
    • Far-right blog the Columbia Bugle said it’s “suspicious as hell. Just like everything about Epps and that day.” The account also posted, “The defense this guy gets from both the regime and their minions in the mainstream media is wild. Which only makes Tucker Carlson's ‘conspiracy theories’ about January 6th look more accurate.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23, 9/19/23]
    • Right-wing influencer Greg Price defended the Proud Boys, saying members of the far-right gang “just all got multi-decade jail sentences on seditious conspiracy charges over January 6. But the only person on J6 who was caught on video telling people to go in the Capitol has been charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Price also posted: “Not only did Ray Epps actively tell people to go inside the Capitol, he was one of the first to breach the barricades after encouraging others to tear them down. No obstruction felony, no civil disorder, no seditious conspiracy and not even a trespassing charge.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Sean Davis of The Federalist said: “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.” [Twitter/X, 9/19/23]
    • Far-right conspiracy theory outlet the Gateway Pundit titled its Epps piece “REGIME THEATRICS: After 2.5 Years DOJ Finally Charges Suspected Ray Epps with One Misdemeanor After He Was CAUGHT ON VIDEO Urging Trump Supporters to ENTER the US Capitol – And Was Caught Attacking Police!” [Gateway Pundit, 9/19/23]