Ray Epps, the man filmed multiple times telling protestors to go inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to 12 months probation.

Epps will spend no time in prison for his role that day.

He was given:

  • 12 months probation
  • $500 in restitution
  • 100 hours of community service

“Ray Epps, the only January 6 protester who actually told people to go into the Capitol, has been officially sentenced to one year probation, $500 restitution, and 100 hours community service. While many J6 protesters are rotting in jail for non-violent crimes, Epps escapes a prison term entirely,” Greg Price wrote.

Price shared footage of Epps telling protestors to go inside the U.S. Capitol:

“For reference, the average sentence a January 6 defendant has received is 3 years. For those who receive guilty pleas like Epps did, it has been two years. Yet for some reason the guy who instigated the Capitol riot has escaped with probation and community service,” Price continued.

“This verdict does seem weirdly weak,” Elon Musk commented.

“Not only that but he was able to phone in to his sentencing hearing whereas most of the J6 defendants had to be present in the courtroom,” Price noted.

“Ray Epps, the man who took credit for “orchestrating” January 6th by encouraging people to raid the Capitol, has been sentenced to 12 MONTHS PROBATION. He will receive ZERO jail time. Meanwhile, there are truly peaceful protestors ROTTING in prison simply for wandering onto Capitol grounds. As expected, this is a total miscarriage of Justice. Does anyone actually believe Epps is NOT a federal asset?” journalist Nick Sortor questioned.

The Associated Press reports:

Ray Epps, a former Arizona resident who was driven into hiding by death threats, pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge. He received no jail time, and there were no restrictions placed on his travel during his probation, but he will have to serve 100 hours of community service. He appeared remotely by video conference and wasn’t in the Washington, D.C., courtroom when Chief Judge James Boasberg sentenced him.

Epps’ sentencing took place in the same building where Trump was attending an appeals court hearing as the Republican former president’s lawyers argued he’s immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost.

“Ray Epps, the man who directed people to go into the Capitol and privately claimed credit for orchestrating the Capitol breach, gets one year probation. Nothing to see here!” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said.

“Strange,” Elon Musk replied.

Per Zero Hedge:

According to Epps’ sentencing memorandum, Epps should have served 6 months in jail.

“Although Epps engaged in felonious conduct during the riot on January 6, his case includes a variety of distinctive and compelling mitigating factors, which led the government to exercise its prosecutorial discretion and offer Epps a pre-indictment misdemeanor plea resolution,” wrote DOJ senior trial counsel Michael Gordon in the sentencing memo.

Epps’ attorney, Edward Ungvarsky, argued that Epps should serve no jail time, and that “right-wing political dramaturges” resulted in Epps being “attacked, defamed, and vilified.”

According to the sentencing memorandum, Gordon asserted that Epps “has been the target of a false and widespread conspiracy theory that he was an undercover government agent on January 6.”

Other mitigating factors included Epps calling the FBI on Jan. 8, 2021 to explain his actions two days prior. Further, Gordon listed his cooperation with both the FBI and the now-defunct House Jan. 6 Select Committee (which lost video evidence of their witness interviews), and what the DOJ describes as his efforts to de-escalate tensions between protesters and the police.

“Epps only acted in furtherance of his own misguided belief in the ‘lie’ that the 2020 presidential election had been ‘stolen,'” reads the memorandum. “However, due to the outrage directed at Epps as a result of that false conspiracy theory, he has been forced to sell his business, move to a different state, and live reclusively.”

As the Epoch Times reports further, Epps’ photo was removed from the FBI’s Jan. 6 most-wanted page without explanation.

On Sept. 18, 2023, prosecutors charged Mr. Epps with one count of disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, a petty misdemeanor with a maximum six-month jail term.

On Sept. 21, 2023, Mr. Epps pleaded guilty to the charge. In mere days, the high-profile case was dispatched, a stark contrast to many Jan. 6 prosecutions that have stretched across nearly three years.

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