James Ray Epps, Sr.

James Ray Epps, a former Marine and Arizona resident, became the unwitting central figure of a right-wing conspiracy theory claiming he was an undercover government agent who incited the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot to entrap Trump supporters — a claim prosecutors and the government explicitly denied, saying Epps was never a confidential source or agent. On the day of the riot, Epps encouraged the crowd and helped push a large metal-framed sign into a line of officers and joined a "rugby scrum"-like push against police, though he also attempted to de-escalate conflicts between rioters and police at least five times and turned himself in to the FBI two days later. He pleaded guilty in September 2023 to disorderly conduct in a restricted area and was sentenced on Jan. 9, 2024 to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service; he was later driven into hiding by death threats stemming from the conspiracy theory and filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News.