The FBI is expected to arrest a Blaze Media reporter on Friday for what appears to be his coverage of demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, without informing him of what charges he’s facing.
On Tuesday, investigative reporter Steve Baker revealed that following months of delay, federal authorities informed his legal team there is a signed warrant for his arrest and that he is to self-surrender for “alleged J6 crimes” in Dallas, Texas, on Friday morning. Baker has been at the forefront of reporting on the more questionable aspects of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to Baker, he is to turn himself over to the FBI at 7 a.m. on Friday, at which point federal officials will “transport [him] to the Dallas courthouse, where [he] can meet [his] attorney at 9:30 am.” An unnamed federal prosecutor reportedly told Baker’s attorneys that he is to wear “shorts and sandals” during his surrender, representing an effort by the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) to give Baker “a dose of the personal humiliation treatment.”
A hearing before a federal magistrate is purportedly set to take place at 10 a.m. Baker was initially informed of the DOJ’s intention to charge him over his J6 reporting in December but was told by the FBI his self-surrender date would be “postponed until after Christmas,” according to Blaze News.
While the feds reportedly claimed they have no intention of detaining Baker and the charges against him are “non-violent misdemeanors,” the Blaze Media reporter nor his attorneys have been informed what specific counts he’s facing, signaling a potential violation of the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees individuals accused of a crime a right to “be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.” Blaze News reported that “the powers that be won’t tell [Baker’s] attorney about the charges because they believe Baker will post them on social media.”
“We do not yet know the specific charges,” Baker wrote on X. “Technically … they are still ‘under seal’ until the warrant is served. All else is as yet unknown. By this weekend, I will officially be a misdemeanor domestic journo-terrorist. (Something like that.)”
Baker is expected to be released following Friday’s proceedings.
While unlikely to receive significant attention from America’s “democracy dies in darkness” media, the targeting of Baker appears to be in response to his J6 coverage and represents a startling development in which the federal government now seemingly prosecutes journalists for exercising their First Amendment rights. Baker’s ongoing matter is the latest in a long line of cases in which the FBI and Biden DOJ have prosecuted non-violent individuals related to the J6 demonstrations.
As The Federalist’s Tristan Justice reported, the federal government frequently charges and imprisons peaceful Americans who were present at the Jan. 6 events.
While speaking with Blaze News on Tuesday, Blaze Media Editor-in-Chief Matthew Peterson blasted the DOJ’s expected actions as “outrageous” and noted how there’s “no need to put him in a jumpsuit or handcuffs except as a humiliation ritual or a show, which seems to be exactly what they are planning on doing on Friday.”
“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,” Peterson said. This type of authoritarian behavior “should not be happening in America.”
