Mysterious Ray Epps at center of theory that feds provoked Capitol riot One of the world's biggest online newspapers, DailyMail.com, tracked down the mysterious Arizona activist who remains unindicted in the Jan. 6 riot investigation despite being seen in numerous videos directing people to storm the Capitol building.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid didn't advance the story, and it framed the evidence-backed suspicion that Ray Epps was an FBI provocateur tasked with inciting a riot as a "fringe theory" from "some right-wing corners."
But the paper's decision to send paparazzi to Arizona to take telephoto snapshots of Epps at his Rocking R Farms ranch puts a spotlight on a story ignored by establishment media. The extensive investigative legwork has been done instead by the website Revolver News and its founder, former Trump speechwriter Darren Beattie.
DailyMail.com did get a quote from Epps: "Get off my property." 00:02 01:30
And, pressing further, it got a follow-up response: "Get off my property."
In its report Tuesday, the paper further said that some people "on the far right hypothesize that the [feds'] motive was to frame Trump supporters as domestic terrorists."
"There is no evidence that Epps, who was a sergeant in the military, ever entered the building himself on that fateful day and he was never arrested in connection with the storming," the paper said.
But DailyMail.com creates a straw man when it points out that Epps never entered the building. The video evidence, backed by thorough reporting by Revolver News and others, shows Epps on the night before Jan. 6 urging people to go into the Capitol during the joint session of Congress and directing people as the chaos mounted. Did Ray Epps provoke the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 to make it look like right-wingers were responsible? Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to WND news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Protesters confront police at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2020. (Video screenshot)
Protesters confront police at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2020. (Video screenshot)
And the fact that he was not indicted, despite the extensive evidence of his involvement, supports the theory that he was an FBI informant, as Revolver News points out. Epps, in fact, initially was on the FBI's Most Wanted list in connection with Jan. 6. Then, with Revolver News putting a spotlight on Epps, the Arizona man mysteriously disappeared from the list.
In the first report of its Jan. 6 investigation, Revolver News presented three major findings concerning Epps that counter the official narrative and provided more evidence of proactive federal involvement in the Capitol riot.
In a follow-up report this month, Revolver News presented evidence, backed by videos and images, that there were others who worked in tandem with Epps, apparently to turn a peaceful rally into a riot.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has produced a three-part documentary called "Patriot Purge" that concludes growing evidence points to "incitement by federal agents" and the "intentional entrapment of American citizens."
Julie Kelly, who has done investigative reporting on the Jan. 6 defendants for American Greatness, is among many who have pointed out that despite the repeated claims that Jan. 6 was an "armed insurrection" of "white supremacists," not one person has been charged with carrying or using a firearm inside the Capitol building. The only person who used a firearm inside the Capitol, she noted, was the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed an unarmed female veteran, Ashley Babbitt.
The FBI said in August it had not found evidence that Jan. 6 was the result of an organized plot to overturn the election, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.