Ray Epps, a Jan. 6 defendant 'scapegoated' by far-right media, sentenced to probation

WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump supporter who faced threats after far-right conspiracy theorists and then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson falsely suggested he was a secret government operative who entrapped other Jan. 6 rioters was sentenced to probation on Tuesday.

Ray Epps, who was on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count earlier this year. Prosecutors sought a six-month prison sentence for Epps who became a target of far-right conspiracy theorists who have sought ways to obscure the truth: that hundreds of Trump supporters committed criminal acts on Jan. 6 because they believed the former president's lie that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.

"More than 700 people have been sentenced in this courthouse for their role in January 6th. Not one is a member of Antifa or a FBI agent," Judge James Boasberg said Tuesday before sentencing Epps to probation.

Federal prosecutors had argued that Epps' conduct on Jan. 6 was worthy of a period of incarceration, saying he "did not deserve the threats but does deserve to go to jail."

“Ray Epps has been unfairly scapegoated. He was not a secret agent trying to trick Trump supporters," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon said during the sentencing hearing. "He is not innocent either."

Epps told the judge before his sentencing that Fox News contributed to his belief that the election was stolen. He is currently suing Fox News, accusing the network of spreading the conspiracy theory that he was a federal agent. A representative for Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speaking of the pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, Epps said that he had "never seen hate and vulgarity on this level" and that he realized "inhindsight" that what