The business owner from Arizona went to Washington D.C. to show his support for the former president.
The events that followed ruined his life even though he wasn't among the Capitol rioters who were arrested and charged.
According to an interview he gave to The New York Times, the former president pushed a conspiracy theory that would force him to sell his business and home and go into hiding.
What lies? "I told The Times." It has been hell.
The baseless theory was the result of attempts by some on the right to blame federal agents for the Capitol riot.
On January 5, a video was taken of a man saying to other Trump supporters to go to the Capitol the next day. Right-wing internet sleuths accused Epps of being an undercover FBI agent or an Informant, despite videos that show him urging others to be peaceful and trying to deescalate confrontations between police and the rioters.
Right-wing media and Republican politicians picked up on the theory. At a rally in January, Trump mentioned that he may have worked for the feds.
When a right-wing site first published a story about it, Epps said he and his wife began receiving death threats via email and had people on their property. Carlson and legislators promoted the claims.
After finding shell shells on his property, he received a letter from a group of people who said they were going to kill him. He sold his business and home and moved into a mobile home in the mountains. As long as his current location wasn't disclosed, he agreed to the interview.
He said it was the biggest farce he had ever seen. It isn't right. The Americans are on a path. It should be a crime.
The FBI hasn't commented on why he wasn't charged.
The FBI's National Threat Operations Center flagged him in a be-on-the-lookout alert two days after the Capitol riot, after which he contacted them. His phone records show that he spoke to the FBI.
He told the House select committee that he wasn't connected to the FBI when they questioned him.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
