On Sunday night, “60 Minutes” whitewashed the shameless Jan. 6 provocateur Ray Epps. And Fox and Tucker Carlson coincidentally parted ways.
In case you missed “60 Minutes,” it was surreal. The whole thing.
How did they do it? Watch!
“For millions of consumers of conservative news, Ray Epps is a notorious villain – a provocateur responsible for turning peaceful protests on January 6th into a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol,” said Bill Whitaker, the CBS hitman. “The irony is that Epps was a passionate supporter of President Trump who went to Washington to protest the 2020 election. But his often contradictory behavior that day spawned a full-fledged conspiracy theory, casting him as a government agent who incited an insurrection. Today, Epps is in hiding, after death threats forced him to sell his home. So who is Ray Epps? Tonight, you’ll hear from the government, and the man himself.”
It’s masterful propaganda – a new height for mainstream TV lies.
And who do they blame for the “confusion” surrounding Epps for the “Insurrection”?
Tucker Carlson. It took “60 Minutes” three years to try to explain this to the American people – and to try to blame Carlson for Ray Epps’ insidious actions. Epps is portrayed as a tragic figure, even though he is always on the front lines of the Capitol, even the night before, encouraging protesters to go “inside the Capitol!”
“At 6-foot-4, in his desert camouflage, bright red Trump hat, and military-style backpack, Ray Epps stood out from the crowd on January 6th,” says Whitaker. “That’s him running toward the U.S. Capitol alongside the vanguard of rioters who first attacked and overran police.”
Then he sets up his first question to the misunderstood Epps. “What do you think when you see this now?” he asks.
Epp tells Whitakers: “Brings back some bad memories. It’s hard to see our Capitol under attack.”
We’re also introduced to Robyn Epps, Ray’s wife.
“It’s been more than two years since the storming of the Capitol, but Ray and his wife Robyn told us they relive January 6th every day of their lives,” says Whitaker.
Robyn Epps: “Some people have said, ‘Well, just let it go, and let it die down.'”
Ray Epps: “It doesn’t.”
And who does Epps blame for this misunderstanding?
Once again, he blamed it all on Tucker Carlson.
“He’s obsessed with me,” says Epps. “He’s going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives.”
“Why?” Whitaker asks.
“To shift blame on somebody else,” Epps suggests. “If you look at it, Fox News, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, Gaetz, they’re all tellin’ us before this thing that it was stolen. So you tell me, who has more impact on people, them or me?”
Epps went to Washington with his 36-year-old son, not his wife, “and almost immediately stepped into trouble,” said Whitaker. But Epps, despite all he said and did and where he appeared at the Capitol that day, was never arrested. Many others were. They followed his directions to “go into the Capitol.” Although he was briefly named as one of the “most wanted” on the FBI’s list, he then suddenly disappeared from the list. Epps was clearly giving directions to protesters – talking on cell phones, urging people to storm barricades.
“I said some stupid things,” Epps explains. “My thought process: We surround the Capitol, we get all the people there. I mean, I had problems with the election. It was my duty as an American to peacefully protest, along with anybody else that wanted to.”
Epps walked toward the Capitol, but claimed to “60 Minutes” he wanted to be up front to help keep the peace.
Whitaker: “Did anyone from the federal government direct you to be here at the Peace Circle at this time?”
Epps: “No.”
Whitaker: “No one from the FBI?”
Epps: “No.”
Whitaker: “Your old comrades with the Oath Keepers?”
Epps: “No.”
He said it, so it’s true. And maybe it is. But Epps looked as guilty as anybody there, despite his very late protestations. When a female police officer was knocked down, he was asked, “Why didn’t you stop to help?”
“When she was knocked down and I started to go towards her to help her up,” said Epps. “And I saw a billy club over here in the corner of my eye. And I thought, ‘You know, they’re gonna think I’m part of this.’ So I backed off.”
Yes, why didn’t they? Why were you treated differently? Over a thousand protesters were arrested for nothing more suspicious that what Epps did on Jan. 6.
“I was there. I wasn’t a part of that, knocking her down,” Epps said. Mrs. Epps, who wasn’t there, said: “And he wasn’t part of the violence. There’s a big difference there.”
No, it was not a big difference.
Epps also bragged that he had it “orchestrated.” What did he mean by that?
“I was boasting to my nephew,” Epps said.” I helped get people there. I was directing people to the Capitol that morning.”
“You know how this sounds?” says Whitaker.
“I know exactly how it sounds. I’ve been scolded by my wife for using that word. I shouldn’t have used that word,” says Epps.
Whitaker: “When you add up all of these things, as your critics have done, you’ve given them a lot of ammunition to paint you as this instigator.”
Epps: “There was an effort to make me a scapegoat.”
When Epps got back to Arizona on Jan. 8, a relative told him he was on an FBI poster “seeking information” about certain rioters.
Robyn Epps said: “We literally hung up the phone and walked right into the house, sat down and called the FBI.” Ray Epps said: “Told ’em who I was, and that I would cooperate in any way I could. I didn’t break any laws.”
Two months later, he met with agents.
So, he did become an informer – voluntarily.
“So when we met with the FBI, I mean, it was like, ‘Finally. We’re gonna clear this up.’ There was no, I take the Fifth. There was none of that. It was just like we’re talkin’ right now. I went through everything. And they had a lotta questions,” he admitted.
In the summer of 2021, the FBI took his picture off the Bureau’s website.
The FBI got back to “60 Minutes” and gave this clarifying statement: “Ray Epps has never been an FBI source or an FBI employee.”
Like I said, the whole thing is just surreal.
via wnd
