{"id":1447586,"date":"2024-01-04T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1447586"},"modified":"2024-01-04T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T06:00:00","slug":"feds-want-to-jail-ray-epps-for-just-6-months-over-role-in-jan-6-riot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/feds-want-to-jail-ray-epps-for-just-6-months-over-role-in-jan-6-riot\/1447586\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Want To Jail Ray Epps For Just 6 Months Over Role In Jan. 6 Riot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feds Want To Jail Ray Epps For Just 6 Months Over Role In Jan. 6 Riot<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

While several key figures in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were sentenced to 12 – 22 years in prison, the man caught on film repeatedly goading protesters to go inside<\/em> the Capitol, Ray Epps, faces just six months in jail<\/strong>. According to a 29-page sentencing memorandum<\/a>, which notes “compelling mitigating factors.”<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

“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\u00a0DOJ senior trial counsel Michael Gordon in the sentencing memo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

Oh?<\/p>\n

Why was Ray Epps treated as victim by the same people who condemned almost everyone around him as a threat?<\/p>\n

We try to answer some lingering questions about the one “election-denying-Donald Trump-supporter” the media and the government didn’t seem to hate. pic.twitter.com\/1u5dXtSGLv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Truth In Media (@Truth_InMedia) November 3, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n

Mitigating factors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

Other mitigating factors included Epps calling the FBI on Jan. 8, 2021<\/strong> 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<\/a> of their witness interviews), and what the DOJ describes as his efforts to de-escalate tensions between protesters and the police.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n

As the Epoch Times<\/em><\/a> reports further, Epps’ photo was removed from the FBI’s Jan. 6 most-wanted page without explanation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ray Epps speaks to police officers near a barricade on the west plaza of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department\/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

On Sept. 18, 2023, prosecutors charged<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 21, 2023, Mr. Epps pleaded guilty<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Sentencing in the case had been scheduled for Dec. 20, 2023, but Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted a continuance until 10 a.m. Jan. 9 at the federal courthouse in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

In his sentencing memo, Mr. Ungvarsky said Mr. Epps\u2019 intention all along was for peaceful protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRay Epps understands the serious mistake he made when he joined others to attend the Stop the Steal Rally on January 6, 2021, and to encourage others to walk to the U.S. Capitol to continue to protest,\u201d Mr. Ungvarsky wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt all times, Mr. Epps\u2019 intent was that the protest would be peaceful and would be done peacefully,\u201d Mr. Ungvarsky said. \u201cThose were his words on January 5, and that was his intent on January 6.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late on Jan. 2, Mr. Ungvarsky filed a motion<\/a> asking to shield under court seal the identifying information of persons mentioned in Mr. Epps\u2019 forthcoming sentencing exhibits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor safety concerns, counsel has redacted the names and identifying information of persons who authored or are discussed in exhibits of sentencing letters and memoranda,\u201d Mr. Ungvarsky wrote. \u201cDocumented prior harassment and threats provide a specific basis for this request in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Ray Epps Sentencing Memo<\/a> by James Lynch<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 01\/03\/2024 – 20:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/feds-want-jail-ray-epps-just-6-months-over-role-jan-6-riot<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feds Want To Jail Ray Epps For Just 6 Months Over Role In Jan. 6 Riot While several key figures in the Jan. 6 Capitol…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1447586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-64Aa","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1447586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1447586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1447586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1447586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}