Public January 6 profile · ready to claim

James Ray Epps, Sr.

Pardoned January 6 defendant

Archive card · not a photograph

James Ray Epps, Sr. is a United States Marine Corps veteran and a small-business owner from Queen Creek, Arizona, who ran a wedding venue with his wife Robyn until the internet decided he was something else. He is the most lied-about man in the entire January 6 record. So let us do what almost nobody did for him. Let us go to the documents. THE SERVICE AND THE BUSINESS FACT: James Ray Epps, Sr. served in the United States Marine Corps from 1979 to 1983. (Source: public biographical record, corroborated by AP, PBS NewsHour and WUSA9 reporting.) FACT: He and his wife Robyn Epps built and operated a wedding venue business in Queen Creek, Arizona. FACT: In May 2022 the couple closed that business and left Arizona, moving to a trailer in the Rocky Mountains. A Marine veteran and his wife lost the business they built and left their own town. WHAT THE COURT RECORD ACTUALLY SAYS FACT: Court papers state that James Ray Epps identified himself to the FBI two days after January 6, 2021, and gave a follow-up interview to agents in March 2021. He went to them. They did not have to find him. FACT: He was not charged with any crime until September 2023, more than two and a half years later. FACT: There is no allegation in the court record that James Ray Epps entered the U.S. Capitol building. FACT: Prosecutors own court papers state that Epps tried to de-escalate the conflict between rioters and police at multiple points that day. That is the government saying it, in its own filing, about its own defendant. THE PLEA AND THE SENTENCE FACT: He was charged in September 2023 with a single misdemeanor, Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds, and pleaded guilty the following day. FACT: On January 9, 2024, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg sentenced him to 12 months of probation, a $25 special assessment, $500 in restitution, and 100 hours of community service. No incarceration. FACT: On January 20, 2025, James Ray Epps, Sr. received a full presidential pardon. THE LAWSUIT FACT: In July 2023 Epps sued Fox News, alleging that hosts including Tucker Carlson pushed the false claim that he was a federal agent provocateur. On November 27, 2024, a federal judge dismissed the suit, ruling that Epps had not shown actual malice under the defamation standard. The dismissal was on the legal standard. It was not a finding that the claims about him were true. WHAT THIS DOES NOT PROVE It does not prove every theory anyone ever posted about James Ray Epps was wrong. It proves what the record shows: a Marine veteran and Queen Creek small-business owner who walked into the FBI on his own two days later, who prosecutors themselves credit with trying to de-escalate, who pleaded to one misdemeanor, who got probation and community service, and who was pardoned. THE RECORD U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, docket 1:23-cr-259850 series. Charging document on file at CourtListener. Arrested September 18, 2023. Sentenced January 9, 2024. Pardoned January 20, 2025. Queen Creek, Maricopa County, Arizona. This is the record. Not the thread. Not the clip. The record. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.