An attorney for Ray Epps, the man in the red hat at the center of a January 6 conspiracy theory, has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Tucker Carlson, demanding a retraction and an on-air apology for falsely claiming Epps was a federal agent.
Ray Epps became the face of the conspiracy theory that the federal government had instigated a false flag attack to make Trump look bad, simply because he was never charged for what he did.
Michael Teter, the Epps attorney, described the conspiracy theories about his client as “nonsensical fantasies” that have been “disproven by videos and accounts by those attending the January 6th events.”
Epps, a former Marine from Arizona, traveled to Washington, D.C. to support Trump, and was filmed on January 5 urging others to enter the Capitol the following day. On January 6, he was filmed moving through barricades outside the Capitol, but never went inside the building.
Epps was also filmed attempting to stop a rioter from attacking a police officer.
And at 2:12pm on that day, Epps texted his nephew to say, “I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it.”
Epps explained later that he regretted being boastful and using the word “orchestrate,” and that he simply meant helping others march to the Capitol.
Tucker Carlson was one of the first major figures in the news media to ignite the stories about Ray Epps.
The conspiracy theory was repeated by Republican congressmen Thomas Massie and Ted Cruz, and the issue was addressed by the January 6 Committee, whose spokesperson said Epps “was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on January 5th or 6th or at any other time, and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency.”
After Kevin McCarthy released tapes of January 6 to Tucker Carlson, Carlson was back on the air suggesting Epps was an FBI informant, that he had remained at the Capitol for approximately 30 more minutes than he had told Congress.
“What was Epps doing there?” Tucker asked in a March 6 segment of his show. “We can’t say, but we do know that he lied to investigators.”
Epps’ attorney requests that Carlson and Fox send written confirmation that they will “comply with these demands” by March 31, or they will risk a lawsuit.
Epps has sold his home and business because of threats and harassment he’s faced after becoming the target of this conspiracy theory.