An anonymously written March 1 WorldNetDaily article tried to whitewash yet another Capitol rioter, this time by pretending that he was a “reporter”:
A report from The Blaze reveals that one of its reporters, investigative writer Steve Baker, has been arrested and shackled by the FBI for “his J6 reporting.”
The event captured the attention of investigative journalist Lara Logan, who called it “truly outrageous” and Donald Trump Jr., who said, “I guess now they’re arresting journalists to preserve democracy or something???”
The report said Baker was shackled during a court appearance but was expected to be released with a pending hearing set for March 14.
The Blaze publication’s own report said Baker for years “has been searching for the truth about Jan. 6, 2021, and believes the U.S. government has been targeting him for it — on Friday was charged with four misdemeanors related to his Jan. 6 coverage at the U.S. Capitol after turning himself in to the FBI in Dallas.”
The report listed the charges to include “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building,” “disorderly and disruptive conduct,” “disorderly conduct in a capitol building” and “parading or picketing.”
The report said the DOJ kept the charges secret until the arrest, which his Dallas attorney, James Lee Bright, described as “really unusual.”
The anonymous writer then ramped up the victimhood by uncritically quoting Baker’s boss, Glenn Beck:
Glenn Beck, who co-founded Blaze Media, pointed out, “When the United States government can come after individuals, that’s when you know our republic is crumbling. I’ve always said that if they can go after Donald Trump, they will go after people like you and me. And now they are. But Steve Baker is not deterred, and neither are we.”
The report cited the expectation by lawyers of “retaliation” against Baker for his reporting, which has included several major stories about events that day.
Because the anonymous WND writer was performing stenography on behalf of the Blaze and had no interest in doing any actual reporting, what Baker actually did to get arrested was censored. As a much more credible media outlet reported:
After the riot erupted, Baker entered the Capitol through a broken door and joined the mob at the barricaded doors to the House chamber, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Shipley provided The Associated Press with a copy of the affidavit, which wasn’t immediately unsealed.
In another part of the Capitol, the affidavit says, Baker “antagonized” police officers who tried to keep him on the other side of a doorjamb, repeatedly asking, “Are you going to use that (gun) on us?” He remained inside the building for approximately 37 minutes before police led him out of the Capitol, according to the FBI.
[…]The FBI agent’s affidavit cites several statements that Baker made during and after the riot. After leaving the Capitol, he told a local television station that he was “quite excited to see this going on.”
“Do I approve of what happened today? I approve 100%,” he said, according to the affidavit.
Baker also told the station that approximately 20 to 30 people were inside then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office “at the time that I got there.” In a video uploaded to a YouTube channel on Jan. 6, Baker also referred to Pelosi with a sexist expletive.
“The only thing I regret is that I didn’t like steal their computers because God knows what I could’ve found on their computers if I’d done that. But by the time I got into Pelosi’s office, unfortunately there was some damage done,” Baker said, according to the FBI.
Does that sound like someone who was acting merely as a reporter? Nope. Sounds much more like a rioter who gave aid and comfort to his fellow rioters who announced he would have committed more crimes in the form of stealing data if the computers hadn’t been stolen by someone else first. But WND and The Blaze won’t tell you that fact because their dubious narratives on the Capitol riot are more important than the truth.