View this post on the web at [link removed]

Veteran journalist Julie Kelly has obtained a transcript of the sentencing hearing for Ray Epps, a man prominently featured in footage urging individuals to enter the Capitol on multiple occasions on January 5 and 6.
Epps, who was among the first protesters to breach Capitol Police lines on January 6, received notably lenient treatment from federal prosecutors compared to the majority of protesters arrested that day. Over three years after the protests, the FBI is conducting no-knock raids targeting demonstrators who typically face charges such as disorderly conduct, picketing in the Capitol Building, remaining in restricted grounds, and related trespassing-related misdemeanors.
Despite federal prosecutors largely refraining from charging non-violent protesters with the felony statute of "obstruction of an official proceeding," there are still instances where it is brought, awaiting a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on its application.
In the case of Ray Epps, he faced charges and pleaded guilty to just one count of disorderly conduct. While numerous non-violent protesters with clean records have received lengthy jail sentences, Epps was sentenced to a mere one year of probation and mandated to complete 100 hours of community service.
According to the obtained sentencing hearing transcript by Julie Kelly, prosecutors acknowledged that Epps "committed several crimes" on January 6.
"Your honor, Ray Epps has been unfairly scapegoated, but he is not a victim. He was not a secret agent of the government on January 6, trying to trick unwitting Trump supporters into committing federal crimes," stated Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon during last month's hearing. "That's not what happened. But he is not innocent, either."
Gordon further conceded that while Epps "did not start the riot or cause it, he did make it much worse."
"He committed multiple crimes on that day," the federal prosecutor continued. "He's only pled to one because that's the plea offer we made with him. But he committed multiple crimes that day. He was convinced the election has been stolen and that the steal needed to be stopped."
Gordon further admitted that on January 5, Epps attempted to "persuade" people to enter the Capitol the next day, adding that Epps "did everything he could" to make that happen.
Elsewhere in the transcript, prosecutors explained that they opted not to charge Epps with felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other misdemeanors because he was "the victim of this widespread conspiracy theory that is both false and continuing to be promoted by many."
This was how prosecutors decided to give Epps a "significant break of a misdemeanor plea offer."
Epps also submitted an apology letter where he blamed Trump for making him believe in "the big lie." He also praised the FBI, stating that "the blame of the insurrection is not on the FBI. It is on those who were at the Capitol engaged in insurrectionist activities and those who misled Americans, like myself, into believing the election had been stolen."
Gordon praised Epps for referring to the protests as an "insurrection" aimed at overturning a "lawful, correct election result."
Epps has been defended by a number of pro-Biden and corporate media outlets, all of whom defended or downplayed months of left-wing violence in 2020. Said outlets have branded all January 6 protesters as violent “insurrectionists,” though Epps has been spared this treatment.
Instead, he was given a softball interview from 60 Minutes to explain how he is the target of “conspiracy theories.”

Unsubscribe [link removed]?