[Steve_Seattle]

One other possibility is that Epps could have been manipulated by people who he did not know were federal assets. Someone could have told him things like, "The president is on board with this" or "The army supports us" or "We have weapons cache in reserve," things to embolden him.

I have seen transcripts of some of his comments on that day, and he seemed to think he was part of some larger operation. He was surprised and angry that Trump didn't support the effort.

[Revel]

Lost of possibilities. But who ever he was involved with had the power to protect him from prosecution. So it must have been from high up.