Why did the New York Times run a story in defense of the one man who has been captured on video urging people to storm the Capitol on the day before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and then directing the breach of the guarded perimeter while Donald Trump was still speaking one mile away?
That’s what Revolver News reporter Darren Beattie wants to know. It was Beattie who brought attention to the mysterious Ray Epps last fall, presenting video and other evidence to support the theory that the Arizona man was among many federal government operatives acting as provocateurs on Jan. 6.
In an article Thursday for Revolver News, Beattie breaks down the Times “puff piece,” which opens by describing Epps as “a man whose life has been ruined by a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory.”
The Times says Epps “has suffered enormously in the past 10 months as right-wing media figures and Republican politicians have baselessly described him as a covert government agent who helped to instigate the attack on the Capitol last year.”
But Beattie digs out the buried lede of the story by the “paper of record.”
The Times refers to a text message Epps sent to his nephew describing how he “orchestrated movements of people” to the Capitol after Trump’s speech.
Beattie, providing a video compilation (embedded below) of Epps “orchestrating movements,” wonders what Epps said in that text and whether it at least hinted as his motive for driving all the way to Washington to direct people into the Capitol.
The Times apparently never asked Epps that foundational question. And, while Epps states he had no association with “law enforcement,” the story presents no explicit denial by him of a connection to military intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, the Joint Terrorism Task Force or any cutouts or intermediaries.
Last October, Beattie reported evidence that FBI informants and Antifa operatives turned a peaceful Jan. 6 rally into a riot, spotlighting the role of Epps. In a follow-up report in December, Revolver News presented evidence, backed by videos and images, that there were others who worked in tandem with Epps to orchestrate the break-in.