Journalist Steve Baker was arrested by the FBI on March 1st. He was handcuffed and leg-ironed and transported by armed investigators to face charges that the Justice Department refused to disclose until he appeared in court.
The unusual circumstances and security surrounding Baker’s arrest were determined to be related to four federal misdemeanor charges stemming from events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Although Baker did not have a press pass, he was at the scene as a journalist.
Only a few reporters expressed anger or any level of concern about the government’s blatant attack on press freedom.
The images of journalists being arrested, handcuffed, and imprisoned by the government for their reporting should be reminiscent of totalitarian regimes such as the Soviet Union and communist China. But now we are witnessing this scene in the United States, and most of the mainstream media seems complacent.
The media did not completely ignore Baker’s arrest. Some media outlets enthusiastically reported on the case, with some praising the Justice Department for rushing to bring charges. Incredibly, only a small number of reporters have expressed anger or any level of concern about the government’s blatant attack on press freedom.
In other recent and past incidents, corporate media reactions were quite different. The arrest and imprisonment of American journalist Evan Gershkovich in Russia sparked, and continues to generate, justifiable outrage. Similar outrages continued in 2018 after Saudi dissident journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered in Turkey for his reporting.
Reporters Without Borders is report A detailed study of the number of journalists being persecuted around the world in 2021 found a 20% increase compared to the previous year. “This extraordinary surge in arbitrary detentions is primarily attributable to three countries whose governments have adopted policies that: Indifferent to people’s longing for democracy” Emphasis added.
For nearly 250 years, America has been a safe haven for journalists fleeing dictatorships around the world. The founders believed that freedom of the press was one of the greatest weapons against tyranny. James Madison said that freedom of the press is “one of the great bulwarks of liberty.” Alexander Hamilton even argued in Federalist 84 that there was no need for a free press in the Constitution because the federal government had no power to regulate it.
In 1931, the Supreme Court upheld freedom of the press. Near vs. Minnesota, affirms that the First Amendment includes speech that the public may find indecent. Again, in 1971 the High Court upheld freedom of the press. New York Times Co. v. United Statesupheld the right of newspapers to publish leaked government documents.
In 2015, journalists across the country accused the Obama administration of spying on two Associated Press reporters to prevent internal information leaks. To my knowledge, this gross violation of press freedom has never been challenged in court.
Perhaps just a coincidence, many of the same parties involved in President Obama’s unconstitutional treatment of journalists are once again in powerful positions in the Biden administration, and we are witnessing another violation of press freedom. There is.
Steve Baker was an independent journalist when he traveled to Washington, D.C., on January 5 and 6, 2021, to cover various rallies scheduled at the time. More than 60 other journalists and photographers were also present at the Capitol on January 6th. Like many people, Baker went with the flow of events all the way into the building. He filmed what he witnessed and later submitted the footage to the FBI.
Why did the Justice Department name Steve Baker when there were so many reporters at the Capitol and inside on January 6th? And why now? The lawsuit alleges that this was primarily due to political and derogatory comments he made about members of Congress in the days following January 6th.
I looked at the billing documents. I don’t agree with some of Mr. Baker’s comments and I don’t intend to use some of his colorful language, but words and opinions are not crimes in this country. At least, it shouldn’t be.
A more likely explanation for this sudden charging decision is that Baker has recently taken a closer look at the specific incident of January 6th and the subsequent investigation by the FBI.
He recently broke big news regarding the RNC and DNC pipe bomb investigations and possible perjury by witnesses testifying in cases brought against protesters by the Justice Department.
Like any good reporter, Baker works to get to the truth. But his investigation revealed possible corruption within the FBI, and his arrest on January 6, shortly after the Justice Department indicted him, raises serious questions.
It is even more suspicious that this indictment suddenly surfaced three years after Baker was chosen from among the dozens of journalists who were at the Capitol that day.
John F. Kennedy once said, “A country that is afraid to let its people decide what is true and false on the open market is afraid of its people.”
All freedom-loving Americans, especially all members of the media, should be alarmed by the persecution and prosecution of journalists doing their jobs. But in the current state of society, one thing is clear. That’s how January 6th and Donald Trump changed the world of journalism.
Unless a journalist dares to question the Biden vs. Pelosi narrative on January 6, the media will rally fervently to defend freedom of speech, press, and assembly.
