Ray Epps sues Fox News, accuses the network of ‘telling a fantastical story’ about him working for the FBI

Hanna Seariac
·2 min read
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Ray Epps, in the red Trump hat, center, gestures to others as people gather on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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A man who marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against Fox News, accusing the network of “telling a fantastical story” about how he “was an undercover FBI agent.”

In the claim, James Ray Epps, who now lives in Utah, says Fox News told a story “in which Ray Epps — who was a Donald Trump supporter that participated in the protests on January 6th — was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol and interfered with the peaceful transition of power for the first time in this country’s history.”

Fox had did not issue a public statement on the suit. The Deseret News requested comment from Fox but did not receive an immediate response.

“Fox, and particularly, Mr. (Tucker) Carlson, commenced a years-long campaign spreading falsehoods about Epps,” the suit states. Epps’ lawsuit comes after Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation case.

The suit did not specify the damages Epps is seeking.

A two-time Trump voter and former member of the Oath Keepers, Epps went to Washington, D.C., to attend the protests, and then participated in the riot at the Capitol, per CBS News. Later, a theory surfaced on social media, claiming Epps was an FBI informant.

The FBI issued a statement, per CBS News, which said, “Ray Epps has never been an FBI source or an FBI employee.”

Video footage of Epps on the eve of the march on the Capitol and on Jan. 6 later circulated. On Jan. 5 he said in a video, “I’m probably gonna go to jail for this. Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol. Peacefully.” Then, on Jan. 6 a video records Epps “speaking with a protester named Ryan Samsel at the first barricade, just before Mr. Samsel helped to breach it,” per the suit.

Later, this footage resurfaced. The suit claims that the editor of “Revolver” advanced “the false story that Epps was a federal agent planted as a provocateur to trigger the Capitol violence on January 6th.”

The lawsuit states that Carlson went on the “Redacted” podcast and said, “Ray Epps clearly was working for somebody. He was not a pure civilian.”