Ray Epps has been charged with disorderly conduct for his actions on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The knowledge filed in federal court docket in Washington, D.C., says Epps knowingly engaged in “disorderly and disruptive conduct” on restricted federal grounds.
Epps has mentioned he traveled to Washington from Arizona, attended then-President Donald Trump’s speech close to the White Home, after which went to the Capitol and was a part of the mob on the west entrance of the constructing.
Republican members of Congress have advised that Epps behaved suspiciously earlier than and throughout the Capitol riot and that he might need been a authorities agent.
Throughout a July listening to with FBI director Christopher Wray, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) performed clips of Epps on Jan. 5 telling different Trump supporters that they wanted to enter the Capitol the following day. Nehls complained to Wray that different rioters had been arrested, however not Epps, though he’d been on restricted grounds.
“In case you don’t arrest Mr. Epps, the explanation behind it, I consider you already know what it’s and it seems to me you might be defending this man,” Nehls mentioned.
Wray mentioned he wouldn’t speak about whether or not the FBI would arrest sure people.
“If you’re suggesting that the violence on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was a part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or FBI brokers, the reply isn’t any, it was not,” Wray mentioned. “And to recommend in any other case is a disservice to our hardworking, devoted regulation enforcement occupation.”
In January 2022, Epps advised the particular Home committee that investigated the riot that he didn’t have any affiliation with any federal regulation enforcement company.
Earlier this yr, Epps sued Fox Information for portraying him as a government-sponsored instigator of the riot.
