Great grandma gets stiffer J6 sentence than Ray Epps

On Monday, Aug. 12, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui sentenced Rebecca Lavrenz, 72, to six months of home confinement and a year’s probation, this in addition to a $103,000 fine, for her participation in the events of January 6.

It could have been worse. Federal prosecutors asked for 10 months incarceration and a year of supervised release.

“That recommendation is justified,” they wrote, “in part, because Lavrenz, promoting herself as the ‘J6 praying grandma,’ has been one of the loudest public voices calling the prosecution of January 6 rioters a corrupt exercise.”

In support of this contention, they included in their sentencing memo a tweet I sent on June 3 that featured a photo of Lavrenz with President Trump.

The tweet read, “I wrote my new book ‘Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6’ to put a human face on the greatest mass injustice against American citizens since Japanese internment.”

Prosecutors did not like this tweet or the article of mine that I cited, titled, “First, they came for the J6ers.” In the footnotes, they assert that I “likened the prosecution team in her trial to ‘Nazi executioner-in-chief Adolph Eichmann.'”

They omit the following sentence: “To be sure, the prosecutors had not ascended to that level of evil, but in their untroubled eagerness to send a prayerful great grandmother to prison they seemed capable.”

Having read my share of charging documents, I was not surprised to see my quote taken out of context. J6 prosecutors deal freely in half truths and outright deceptions.

As to whether the prosecution of J6ers has been a “corrupt exercise,” as Lavrenz charged, one need only compare her treatment to that of the notorious Ray Epps.

Lavrenz walked into the Capitol through an open door, prayed for 10 minutes, and walked out on her own volition. Prosecutors concede she committed no act of violence or vandalism but insist she would have been aware that others had.

The most visible of the January 6 provocateurs, Epps had been caught on video the night before urging an impromptu audience to go “in to the Capitol.”

On January 6, Epps was captured on video shepherding his crew down Pennsylvania Avenue. “We are going to the Capitol,” he shouted. “That’s where our problems are.”

Epps helped lead his set of marchers to the Peace Circle at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue and on to the Pennsylvania Pathway.

There, the protesters faced two light metal barricades with only five USCP officers, two of them female, guarding the second, better-fortified set.

At 12:53 p.m. – while Trump was still speaking on the Ellipse a 45-minute walk away – protesters made their way easily to that second set. In the lead was Ryan Samsel, a young Pennsylvanian with a criminal past.

For a few minutes, Samsel and the others jawed with the police. At this point, Epps approached Samsel, whispered something in his ear, and Samsel began to push hard against the barricade.

Within a few minutes, the crowd moved to the front of the west plaza area of the Capitol. At the front of the crowd, giving directions, was the ubiquitous Epps.

At 2:10, protesters managed to get by the police on the west side of the Capitol and began breaking windows. At 2:12, Epps texted his nephew boasting that he had “orchestrated” events at the Capitol.

By Jan. 8, Epps ranked high on the FBI’s “most wanted” list. Not only did he encourage the initial breach and a secondary breach, but he also provided hands-on help to those pushing a large metal Trump sign into a line of police officers.

By July 2021, the evidence notwithstanding, Epps was off the FBI list altogether. Not until Sept. 23, 2023, did Epps plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to a year’s probation.

When Epps pled guilty, the New York Times headlined its story, “Ray Epps, Target of Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theory, Is Sentenced to Probation.” Every other corporate media outlet followed this preposterous “conspiracy theory” lead.

The Times’ wide-eyed reporters paraphrased Epps’s lawyer as saying, “It appeared odd that the government had changed course after its initial review of video evidence from the riot left them disinclined to bring charges.”

By this time, millions of Americans had reviewed the video evidence. They knew the prominent role Epps played in inciting the riot and questioned why the feds were “disinclined to bring charges.”

These citizens were not theorizing about a conspiracy. They had identified a real one and wondered whether there were other less visible provocateurs in the crowd.

“It remains unclear,” wrote the reporters, “why federal prosecutors reversed course and filed a case against Mr. Epps after the initial decision not to charge him.”

Prosecutors reversed course for one reason: Their gaslighting had failed. It had become too embarrassing not to charge Epps with something.

Like other J6ers, Lavrenz watched in horror as the DOJ sent hundreds of her fellow protesters to prison for lesser offenses than those Epps had clearly committed, and she spoke out.

“Lavrenz certainly has a First Amendment right to publicly espouse her views,” prosecutors insisted, but then, of course, added a caveat

“Her unrepentant promotion of the riot is powerful evidence that she continues to pose a threat to future acts of political violence like that which engulfed the nation on January 6.”

Lavrenz has never promoted “the riot.” Political violence did not “engulf the nation” on January 6.

The only people Lavrenz “poses a threat” to are those who insist the persecution of the J6ers is something other than a “corrupt exercise.”

Jack Cashill’s new book, “Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6,” is now available in all formats.

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