A conservative journalist dealing with 4 misdemeanor expenses associated to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots on the U.S. Capitol has recounted how he was handcuffed and positioned in a cell with a meth supplier after he turned himself in to the FBI earlier this month.
“They handcuffed me, took my fingerprints and took me to a automobile that was seen on digital camera,” Blaze Media reporter Steve Baker mentioned throughout an interview on the Tucker Carlson Community that aired Wednesday.
“They took me to the courthouse, turned me over to the US Marshals, and there they put chains on my legs, a series on my belt, tied my wrists to my abdomen, after which put me in a jail cell with a meth supplier.”
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Ep. 82 Joe Biden has put tons of of his political opponents in jail. Right here is the most recent, working journalist who uncovered the frauds of the January sixth fantasy. pic.twitter.com/wukggVvY8j
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 20, 2024
Baker, who was a contract journalist when he allegedly went to the U.S. Capitol for about 37 minutes on Jan. 6, made his first court docket look in Dallas on March 1 after surrendering to the native FBI workplace, his protection legal professional, William Shipley, advised The. Related Press.
Weeks earlier, Baker mentioned on Twitter that the Justice Division had already knowledgeable him that he could be charged with crimes associated to the Jan. 6 riots. He’s dealing with expenses that embrace trespassing and disorderly conduct, in response to the AP, and an FBI affidavit says he “antagonized” officers.
Baker advised Carlson that he first discovered of his impending prosecution in November 2021 when an assistant U.S. legal professional in Philadelphia despatched his legal professional an e mail.
Baker mentioned they didn't hear something for 20 months, till he acquired a grand jury subpoena in August 2023 requesting movies he took through the riot, which he offered. On Dec. 14, whereas sitting within the workplace of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., he mentioned he acquired a textual content message from his legal professional: “I believe that is the large one.”
“So I went out into the hallway on the Rayburn Constructing and I referred to as my lawyer,” Baker mentioned, including that his lawyer advised him the FBI wished him to give up subsequent week in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Baker, who labored for Glenn Beck's Blaze Media on the time, famous that in response they launched a “media offensive” that garnered hundreds of thousands of views, after which the federal authorities “backed down once more.”
“Then the subsequent day we acquired a name from the FBI saying they had been going to place it off till someday after Christmas,” he mentioned. “Once more, we didn't hear from them for 2 months till two weeks in the past.
Baker recounted that Assistant U.S. Lawyer Adam Dreyer requested him to look on the area workplace in shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops, which he noticed as an indication that they had been going to vary him into an orange jumpsuit and convey him earlier than a choose. . After talking along with his lawyer, he mentioned he might present up in his personal garments.
Baker additionally famous that the brokers who arrested him had been silent when he requested them if his remedy was typical of these charged with misdemeanors, including that rank-and-file members of the FBI had expressed their disgust at what was occurring on the company.
“I've had messages from former whistleblowers throughout the nation apologizing for the conduct of an company they had been as soon as happy with,” he mentioned.
The journalist additional speculated that federal legislation enforcement has grow to be more and more politicized lately amid a brand new era of particular brokers who’ve joined because the passage of the Patriot Act and the Obama administration, which he mentioned has led to an “overwhelming” politicization of the state. FBI from high to backside.
Baker additionally mentioned one of many U.S. marshals who tried him in court docket in Dallas checked out his papers, referred to as his expenses “bulls—” and mentioned former President Donald Trump ought to pay court docket charges each Jan. 6 . defendant.
“I strongly agree with that,” Carlson replied.
Greater than 1,300 individuals have been charged with federal crimes associated to January 6, together with a number of journalists, though prosecutors and judges have sometimes rejected the protection that their actions that day had been coated by the First Modification.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Submit. Ship information tricks to jon.brown@christianpost.com
