The details of Ray Epps’ civil complaint against Fox News reveals that he is being criminally charged by the DOJ, almost three years after the fact.
“Finally, in May 2023, the Department of Justice notified Epps that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January 6, 2021—two-and-a-half years later. The relentless attacks by Fox and Mr. Carlson and the resulting political pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges” the complaint reads.
The complaint continues, blaming Fox News for the criminal charges: “… it is difficult to believe that the Department of Justice would have pursued this matter if Fox had not focused its lies on Epps, ultimately the criminal charges conclusively demonstrate the falsehood of the story that Mr. Carlson and Fox told about Epps.
READ THE FULL COMPLAINT HERE:
Ray Epps’ civil complaint against Fox News by The Post Millennial on Scribd
Ray Epps admitted he said “we’ll go inside the Capitol” in the civil complaint, but says it’s because trying to fit in with other Trump supporters:
Original story follows:
Fox News is being sued for defamation by Ray Epps, a man linked to the January 6 protest. The lawsuit says that said that Fox presented Epps as a federal agent to be a “scapegoat” during their media coverage. The nework is being charged with a suit for defamation as well as false light.
The court documents for the case say that during “the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame.”
It goes on to say that the network “turned on one of their own.” Epps is a Trump supporter and attended the protest on January 6.
During coverage of the event, rumors spread from the network that Epps “was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol.”
According to the filings, Epps traveled to Washington on January 4 and planned to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally. He wore his Trump hat and was excited to go.
Epps and his wife are from Arizona and moved to Utah in 2022. He is a “former Marine who voted for Donald Trump twice” and watched Fox often.
Screenshots of texts shown in the document show ticket purchases from Epps who was going with his son and his son’s friend.
On the day of January 5, Epps went out as he heard about a confrontation between Black Lives Matter protestors and Trump supporters. He thought, with his experience in the Marines, he could calm the situation. He was caught on camera saying, “We need to go into the Capitol.”
The next day, on January 6 itself, Epps was talking to a protestor attempting to break through a barricade and according to FBI records, said, “Relax, the cops are doing their job.”
From several segments using this and other information to insiniate a connection, Ray Epps claims he was painted to be an “FBI informant” and a “government agent planted to encourage supporters of Donald Trump to go into the Capitol building.”
The suit heavily blames Tucker Carlson and Fox News for the information that was spread about Epps. It adds that Fox had knowledge that claims against Epps were false at the time of broadcasting the segments from Carlson.
To fulfill “evidence of actual malice,” a necessary point for defamation, the lawsuit points to Fox’s knowledge of using “unreliable sources” and “ignoring information and evidence” that contradicted claims about Epps.
