OAN’s Abril Elfi
10:48 AM – Saturday, March 2, 2024
The Blaze reporter Steve Baker has been arrested and charged due to his reporting of the January 6th event at the Capitol.
On Friday, Baker was charged with entering restricted grounds, disorderly conduct, and parading and picketing in the Capitol.
The charges come after Baker broke major stories involving U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Capitol Police Special Agent David Lazarus.
“Steve’s actions on January 6 have been known to the Department of Justice for 3 years,” Baker’s attorneys said in a January press release. “But it is only now—after Steve has broken two major stories, greatly embarrassing to the DOJ—that he is possibly being targeted for arrest and possibly felony prosecution. Any action taken to put him in handcuffs, hold him in custody, and have him transported to court by federal law enforcement will be nothing other than retaliation for his recent reporting.”
Baker’s attorney was reportedly told by a federal prosecutor last week that his client was expected to show up at the field office dressed in “shorts and sandals.” According to Baker, this indicated that the government intended to “humiliate” him by handcuffing him, putting on an orange jumpsuit, and performing the “prison transport routine,” as reported by Blaze Media.
“They didn’t have to go this route,” Baker told Blaze News last week. “We have been told that my charges are only misdemeanors. And my attorneys have been assured that this will be an ‘in and out’ affair with ‘no intention’ to detain me. But rather than issuing a simple order to appear, they went the ‘arrest warrant’ route.”
Baker’s Dallas attorney, James Lee Bright, told Blaze News that withholding the nature of the charges against his client is a “really unusual” move.
“I’m going to pray, and then I’m going to put on my suit and tie and walk in with my head up,” Baker said.
Baker turned himself in at 7 a.m., wearing his suit and tie.
In the more than three years since the January 6th event, more than 1,300 people have been placed under arrest, and more than 900 convictions have been obtained by the prosecution.
For the kind of misdemeanor charges that Baker is facing, the range of sentences has been from brief probation to 22 years in federal prison for Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys.
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