A federal judge in Delaware tossed Ray Epps’s lawsuit against Fox News, saying the Jan. 6 protester did provide enough to back “actual malice.”
Epps was sentenced to one year probation, $500 restitution, and 100 hours of community service for his role in Jan. 6. Epps became the center of a number of conspiracy theories pushed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and others who used video of Epps from Jan. 6 encouraging other protesters to suggest he was an FBI plant helping orchestrate the Capitol riot.
Epps’s lawsuit was tossed by Judge Jennifer L. Hall.
Fox News said they were “pleased” with the dismissal and mentioned other recent dismissals for lawsuits from former Hunter Biden associate Tony Bobulinski and former “disinformation czar” Nina Jankowicz.
“Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, FOX News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Fox News Media said, in a statement to Mediaite.
Epps filed his lawsuit against Fox News last year, claiming the network had pushed conspiracy theories with him at the center. His lawyers claimed the network made him a “scapegoat” for Jan. 6 and promoted “the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.” Epps’ legal team claimed he faced death threats, including shell casings being left on his property.
Fox argued that hosts were perfectly within their rights to question Epps receiving no jail time while others involved in Jan. 6 were hit with much harsher sentences.
“Even if Fox hosts implied a factual conclusion about Plaintiff, it reflected only their interpretations based on disclosed facts,” Fox previously argued.
Epps pleaded guilty last year to one misdemeanor count of disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds.
