phoenix — A federal judge on Friday dismissed and ruled on a defamation lawsuit against Fox News Again Against a former supporter of Donald Trump who said he received death threats when the network aired false conspiracy theories about his involvement in… Capitol uprising On January 6, 2021.
Foxx falsely accused Raymond Epps, a former Marine, of being a government agent who caused trouble near the Capitol that day so that Trump fans could be blamed. He said he and his wife sold the ranch in Arizona where they lived and moved into a recreational vehicle because of the harassment they experienced after the Fox reports.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall in Delaware granted Fox’s motion to dismiss the case, finding that Epps failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that Fox knew her statements were false.
The judge previously dismissed the case in 2024, but gave Epps a second chance to file his case. Its ruling on Friday said he was still negligent.
Epps had named Tucker Carlson, who was Fired by Fox In April 2023, as the most active promoter of the conspiracy theory. At the time, Carlson hosted Fox’s most popular programs. Epps appeared in more than two dozen segments on Carlson’s prime-time show, the lawsuit said.
“In the wake of the events of January 6, Fox News looked for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party,” Epps’ lawyers wrote in their lawsuit. “Eventually, they turned on one of their own.”
Fox News said in a statement on Friday evening that it was “pleased with the federal court’s ruling, which preserves the freedoms of the press enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
Eps plead guilty He was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with the Jan. 6 riot and was sentenced to one year of probation. Trump later pardoned him, along with 1,500 others He received clemency For their role in the uprising.
Federal prosecutors backed Epps’ strenuous denials that he was a government plant or an FBI agent. They say Epps was never a government employee or agent after serving in the US Marine Corps from 1979 to 1983.