A former Marine, who became the subject of right-wing conspiracy theories that accused him of being a government agent and suggested Jan. 6 was a “false flag” led by the FBI, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge related to disruptive conduct during the U.S. Capitol attack. Ray Epps, 62, was captured on video on Jan. 6 encouraging Trump supporters to go to the Capitol, but he never entered the building, instead attempting to pacify violent protesters. He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 20 and faces a maximum of one year in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan were the primary proponents of the conspiracy theory after an image of Epps was added and then removed from the FBI’s Capitol Violence database. Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against the Fox News in July, and his lawyer said Epps’ plea agreement was “powerful evidence of the absurdity of Fox News’ and Tucker Carlson’s lies that sought to turn Ray into a scapegoat for January 6.”
