(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker turned himself in to the FBI on Friday to face four misdemeanor charges for entering the Capitol to document events during the Jan. 6, 2021, protest-turned-riot—and he was subsequently handcuffed and made to do a perp walk for the world to see.
Baker has been on the forefront of exposing anomalies and likely government malfeasance on Jan. 6. Most recently, he reported that a Capitol Police Special Agent gave false testimony at the Oath Keepers’ sedition trial last year.
His arrest did not go over well with his supporters, though liberals were oddly silent about the Justice Department’s brazen attack on the free press.
Those two Agents are going to have to sleep with this experience from here on out.
The incredible thing is: they will still think they are the good guys.
Hey @FBIDallas – you cowards die a thousand deaths… every day you wake up. https://t.co/dgzKD70JJj
— Kyle Seraphin (@KyleSeraphin) March 1, 2024
“Those two Agents are going to have to sleep with this experience from here on out. The incredible thing is: they will still think they are the good guys. Hey @FBIDallas you cowards die a thousand deaths… every day you wake up,” said former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin.
“The House has released footage to Blaze Media of @TPC4USA in the Capitol on Jan. 6. In the five minutes we saw, there is no ‘disorderly and disruptive conduct’ or ‘parading, demonstrating, or picketing.’ Just journalism. Wake up, America. Biden’s FBI ARRESTED him for this,” said Baker’s employer, Blaze Media founder Glenn Beck.
The House has released footage to Blaze Media of @TPC4USA in the Capitol on Jan. 6. In the five minutes we saw, there is no "disorderly and disruptive conduct" or "parading, demonstrating, or picketing." Just journalism. Wake up, America. Biden's FBI ARRESTED him for this. pic.twitter.com/fC7WSbJITi
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 1, 2024
Baker is now at least the second reporter to be charged for—by all accounts—purely journalistic activities. He joins Stephen Horn, who was convicted of four misdemeanor charges in September for entering the Capitol while filming the Jan. 6 protests/riots. Horn is set to be sentenced in January.
Headline USA understands there are more than 20 other reporters who, like Horn and Baker, entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, but aren’t facing charges. Headline USA reviewed some of their names, but is withholding them so they won’t be targeted, too.
Along with Horn and Baker, the DOJ also charged Infowars host Owen Shroyer with disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area of Capitol grounds.
In Shroyer’s case, he violated terms of a deferred prosecution agreement stemming from a December 2019 arrest for shouting during a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing. Shroyer’s deferred prosecution agreement entailed him agreeing to do community service and follow certain conditions, such as not engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct on Capitol grounds.
While Shroyer may not have been prosecuted solely for his journalism, the DOJ nevertheless successfully pushed for a jail sentence for him—even though he never entered the Capitol. In doing so, DOJ prosecutors cited his First Amendment-protected activity as a reason to put him in jail.
“The First Amendment is no bar to the Court’s consideration of Shroyer’s words and actions at sentencing,” the DOJ argued.
Horn is set to be sentenced this month, while Shroyer recently got out of prison after serving most of his 60-day sentence.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
