On Friday, Steve Baker was arrested and charged for J6 activities more than three years after the event. Aside from the fake narrative that J6 was an insurrection, why is this arrest and these charges newsworthy?
Steve Baker is a journalist who currently works for the Blaze News. Baker was an independent journalist on January 6th, who recorded and has transmitted much video over the last three years about what really happened on January 6th. His arrest is punishment for daring to question the administration’s J6 narrative.
The specific charges (all misdemeanors) are:
- Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct in a capitol building
- Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building
Some 100-200 journalists were on site during the J6 activities. Baker is one of a handful of journalists who have been arrested and charged. All have published stories inimical to the government’s narrative. Baker did nothing other than act as a journalist throughout his time in the Capitol building. Baker only entered the building by following others inside.
Baker’s Dallas attorney, James Lee Bright, told Blaze News that he’s “disturbed” about what’s happening with his client. Bright also said the federal government “three-plus years later going after people who were legitimate functioning journalists that day” appears designed to have an “absolute chilling effect.”
Baker added that when he asked his other attorney, William Shipley, why the federal government is treating him like this, Shipley replied, “You know why. You’ve been poking them in the eye for three years.”
This administration is attempting to use the idea of an insurrection to end freedom of the press. They are trying to send a message that if you disagree with them, they will come after you. If you post a story that lifts the veil and shows how corrupt their narrative has been, you will be arrested on some bogus charge. They will try to bankrupt you with the legal fees needed to defend against the sham charges they file.
Blaze Media editor-in-chief Matthew Peterson called this move “outrageous,” as Baker was present at the riot as an “independent journalist,” according to The Blaze.
“We will be showing the world footage from January 6 that shows Steve was clearly present that day as an independent journalist. Government retaliation such as this against journalists contradicts the very idea of a free press, the purpose of our form of government, and what once was the American way of life.”
Friday was not the first time that the government had threatened Baker with charges. Threats of charges were received last November and December. The first set included charges of racketeering and property damage. The racketeering charges apparently grew out of receiving licensing fees for use of his videos in J6 documentaries by HBO and the NYTimes as well as other news agencies around the world.
Now to sustain a racketeering charge, the DOJ would have had to show that Baker traveled from North Carolina to DC with foreknowledge of a criminal event about to take place and that he conspired with others to profit from it. Apparently the lawfare protagonists in this story decided that even for them that was a bridge too far to cross.
Oh, and about that bankruptcy attempt from legal fees that Michael Flynn experienced. The Ghost reports:
Baker is now represented by six high-power attorneys. Pro Bono! Why? Because as aa embedded journalist, in the Oath Keepers’ Trial — while Fox thought some other Trump mess was more important — Baker was there every day covering the trial and exchanging thoughts with the defense team.
He has dedicated his post-COVID life to others, to try and free those imprisoned in the Garland Gulag.
His coverage of, and thoughts on, the Oath Keepers’ trials so impressed the attorneys that they have rushed to his defense now in his time of need. Seriously, think about that for a minute. Six high-powered attorneys are rushing to Steve’s defense. They are turning away attorney offers now.
This is not normal stuff. Steve is not a normal dude. Hell, today, Alan Dershowitz offered his services. Also pro bono. You cannot make this stuff up. Dershowitz has weighed in! Attention: Jonathan Turley.
And Baker is not a Trump guy. Oh, I imagine he voted for him, but Steve is a liberty-focused conservative. And since J6, he has dedicated his life to freeing the wrongly imprisoned Gulag gang. That is his passion. That is his driving force.
His liberty. My liberty. Your liberty. That is his passion. I’ve seen it for three decades.
Aside from the clear intent to silence a free press, are there any other targets on the horizon that the Gestapo FBI will go after? My Spidey sense is telling me that Tucker Carlson may be in their crosshairs. What will they charge him with for going to Russia to interview Putin?
The FBI as it exists today needs to be gutted. The FBI needs to return to its most important and original function, that of a national forensics and investigative lab, offering support to law enforcement at all levels. No guns. No police authority. Period.