Federal authorities won’t say why armed Capitol rioters disappeared from FBI’s most wanted list by Andrew Kerr
Federal authorities won’t explain why three men who participated in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, have mysteriously disappeared from the FBI’s Capitol Violence Most Wanted list.
One unidentified man wore an earpiece during the riot and was filmed carrying what appeared to be a concealed handgun on his left hip. The man was pictured on the FBI’s most wanted list for over five months until he was removed without explanation on the same day the New York Times reported an FBI informant was at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The third man, Ray Epps of Arizona, was filmed in the hours leading up to the riot urging Trump supporters to enter the Capitol to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Epps has not been arrested or charged for his actions. His unexplained removal from the FBI’s most wanted list on July 1 has fueled speculation from a member of the House Judiciary Committee that Epps may have agitated people to storm the Capitol at the behest of the FBI.
Video footage shows Epps, a former president of the Arizona Oath Keepers militia group, urging a crowd of Trump supporters on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, to “go into the Capitol” the next day, provoking allegations from the crowd that he was working for the federal authorities.
On Jan. 6, 2021, as former President Donald Trump spoke to supporters outside the White House, Epps went to work corralling people toward the Capitol. He was also part of the first group of rioters to break through a police barrier on Capitol grounds.
The Arizona Republic identified Epps as the individual pictured in the FBI’s Capitol Violence Most Wanted list less than a week after the riot. His picture remained on the list for nearly six months until its unexplained removal on July 1.
There is no evidence Epps entered the Capitol building during the riot, nor is there any footage of him directly participating in acts of violence. Epps told the Arizona Republic he did nothing wrong and that rioters who engaged in violence to gain entry into the Capitol building were “totally, totally wrong.”
“The only thing that meant is we would go in the doors like everything else,” Epps told the outlet when presented with a transcript of his comments before the riot urging Trump supporters to go to the Capitol.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky presented video footage of Epps encouraging people to go into the Capitol on Jan. 5 and 6 during a hearing in October with Attorney General Merrick Garland.
During the hearing, Garland refused an opportunity from Massie to put to rest allegations that federal assets agitated people to storm the Capitol. Garland said he wouldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation.
Epps did not return text messages and calls to his cellphone.
Only 13 suspects have been removed from the FBI’s Capitol Violence Most Wanted list, launched two days after the riot to solicit help from the public in identifying rioters. Hundreds of individuals on the list have been identified, but they remain on the list with a notice they have been arrested.
Online sleuths identified removed suspects 311 and 312 as photojournalists. Two removed suspects were minors. Removed suspect 236 identified herself as a 17-year-old girl to a reporter during the riot, and online sleuths identified removed suspect 310 as a minor. Removed suspect 257 was identified as Andrew Taake of Texas, who was arrested and charged by federal authorities in July. Removed suspects 36, 37, 197, and 198 remain on the list under different numbers.
Removed suspect 171 was identified as Evan Neumann of California, who is currently listed on another FBI most wanted list. Neumann allegedly assaulted police officers with a metal barricade during the riot. He fled the country in February and is currently believed to be in Belarus, according to the FBI notice. Neumann was indicted on Dec. 10 on 14 counts.
It is not clear why the FBI removed Epps and the two other unidentified men, dubbed #GingerGun and #HarleyJacketBatonMan by online sleuths, from its most wanted list.
The FBI declined to comment, and the Department of Justice did not return multiple requests for comment.
During a press conference Wednesday, Garland pledged that the DOJ would do whatever it takes to hold all Jan. 6 perpetrators accountable, regardless of whether they were merely present at the Capitol or were “otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
Garland acknowledged the public has questions about his department’s investigation into the Capitol riot but said he couldn’t divulge details about specific cases.
#GingerGun was captured on camera with a crowd of rioters under a Capitol scaffolding on Jan. 6 while he attempted to conceal what appeared to be a beige handgun on his left hip.
Later during the riot, #GingerGun was filmed with a white bandanna over his face and an earpiece on his left ear.
#GingerGun first appeared as suspect 343 on the FBI’s most wanted list on May 4. The FBI removed his headshot from the list sometime between the evening of Sept. 24 and the morning of Sept. 25, according to web archives. The FBI has not explained why it is no longer soliciting the public’s assistance in identifying the man.
Also on Sept. 25, the New York Times reported it had obtained records showing an FBI informant affiliated with the Proud Boys texted his FBI handler as he marched into the Capitol during the riot. The New York Times said the records did not disclose the informant’s identity.
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