华盛顿-周二，联邦检察官建议对一名处于右翼阴谋论中心的男子判处六个月监禁，该阴谋论与2021年1月6日美国国会大厦骚乱有关——他已承认参与了这次袭击。
雷·艾普斯定于下周二被判刑，他在9月份承认了在受限场地上扰乱治安的轻罪指控。
艾普斯，曾经唐纳德·特朗普这位来自亚利桑那州的支持者成为一个阴谋论的焦点，他是一名煽动国会大厦袭击的秘密政府特工。右翼新闻媒体放大了阴谋论，并在1月6日的骚乱后迫使他躲藏起来。
埃普斯在美国海军陆战队当了四年步兵后，当过屋顶工，他强烈否认曾为美国联邦调查局工作过。美国助理检察官迈克尔·高顿在9月份的埃普斯认罪听证会上表示，他不是美国联邦调查局“或任何其他执法机构”的机密消息来源
62岁的埃普斯去年对福克斯新闻频道频道提起诽谤诉讼，称该网络应该为传播导致死亡威胁和子弹壳出现在他院子里的毫无根据的说法负责。
在社交媒体和右翼网站上广泛分享的视频中，埃普斯在骚乱前一天说，“明天，我们需要去国会大厦...和平地。”1月6日，视频显示他说，“总统一结束讲话，我们就去国会大厦。”
艾普斯说，当他看到人们爬墙时，他离开了国会大厦，但实际上从未进入大楼。
检察官说，埃普斯参与了“一场橄榄球似的混战”，试图挤过一排警察。
他们在一份法庭文件中写道:“即使艾普斯没有身体接触执法人员或进入大楼，他无疑参与了集体攻击行为。”
但他们也指出，埃普斯在得知特工试图确认他的身份后，于骚乱两天后向美国联邦调查局自首。检察官说，关于艾普斯的虚假阴谋论不仅伤害了他，“而且试图破坏正在进行的整体联邦起诉的完整性”。
他们写道:“埃普斯只是在推进他自己对2020年总统选举被‘偷走’的‘谎言’的错误信念。”“然而，由于错误的阴谋论导致的对埃普斯的愤怒，他被迫出售他的企业，搬到另一个州，过着隐居的生活。”
埃普斯承认的指控最高可判一年监禁。
埃普斯在1月6日袭击发生前几年与反政府极端组织分道扬镳之前，曾担任誓言守护者组织亚利桑那州分会的领导人。
誓言守卫者创始人斯图尔特·罗兹和其他成员在1月6日的袭击中被判犯有煽动阴谋罪，检察官称这是一个为期一周的阴谋，旨在阻止特朗普向民主党移交权力乔·拜登。罗兹今年5月被判处18年监禁。
超过1200名被告被指控犯有与国会大厦骚乱相关的联邦罪行。其中900多人在经过法官或陪审团的审判后认罪或被定罪。
Prosecutors recommend six months in prison for a man at the center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory
WASHINGTON --Federal prosecutors on Tuesday recommended a six-month term of imprisonment for a man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — an attack that he has admitted to joining.
Ray Epps, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday, pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.
Epps, a onetimeDonald Trumpsupporter from Arizona, became the focus of a conspiracy theory that he was an undercover government agent who incited the Capitol attack. Right-wing news outlets amplified the conspiracy theory and drove him into hiding after the Jan. 6 riot.
Epps, who worked as a roofer after serving four years as infantry in the U.S. Marine Corps, has vehemently denied ever working for the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon said during Epps’ plea hearing in September that he was not a confidential source for the FBI “or any other law enforcement agency.”
Epps, 62, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News Channel last year, saying the network was to blame for spreading the baseless claims that led to death threats and bullet casings in his yard.
In videos shared widely on social media and right-wing websites, Epps is seen the day before the riot saying, “Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol ... peacefully.” On Jan. 6, video shows him saying, “As soon as the president is done speaking, we go to the Capitol.”
Epps has said he left Capitol grounds when he saw people scaling walls and never actually went inside the building.
Prosecutors say Epps participated in a “a rugby scrum-like group effort” to push past a line of police officers.
"Even if Epps did not physically touch law enforcement officers or go inside of the building, he undoubtedly engaged in collective aggressive conduct," they wrote in a court filing.
But they also noted that Epps turned himself in to the FBI two days after the riot after learning that agents were trying to identify him. The false conspiracy theory about Epps not only has harmed him “but also attempts to undermine the integrity of the ongoing and overall federal prosecution,” prosecutors said.
“Epps only acted in furtherance of his own misguided belief in the 'lie' that the 2020 presidential election had been 'stolen,'" they wrote. "However, due to the outrage directed at Epps as a result of that false conspiracy theory, he has been forced to sell his business, move to a different state, and live reclusively.”
The charge to which Epps pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum of one year behind bars.
Epps served as an Arizona chapter leader for the Oath Keepers before parting ways with the anti-government extremist group a few years before the Jan. 6 attack.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack for what prosecutors said was a weekslong plot to stop the transfer of power from Trump to DemocratJoe Biden. Rhodes was sentenced in May to 18 years in prison.
More than 1,200 defendants have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 900 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials decided by a judge or jury.
