You did a good job of laying out your conspiracy theory. Now all you need is evidence. Without evidence it is just another conspiracy theory.
I'm not claiming definitively that there
was any big conspiracy here, or that there's any smoking gun evidence.
I do believe I presented enough evidence that a reasonable person can find it plausible.
It may still be "just another conspiracy theory" but I wouldn't say it's completely crazy to believe or without a shred of evidence.
Am I correct the smoking gun would be Ray Epps?
I would say him and others would be the smoking gun of a suspicious fact pattern.
I believe a plausible and reasonable explanation of this fact pattern is that many of these people were feds/informants. (There may have been actual evidence of this with some of the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys, I don't remember offhand)
Where it goes from there, who knows. But as Barnes said, who had motive and profited from this?