The federal government’s digital crusade against all who breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, launched a new era of strong weaponization of Big Tech that continues to accelerate.
While many Americans look at modern-day Britain and feel fortunate that freedom of speech here has not declined to the same extent as it has across the pond, the truth is that being hunted down, arrested, thrown in solitary confinement, and even killed for what you post or for engaging in nonviolent protest is a very real reality in Biden-Harris America. In fact, as this article explains, even “doing journalism without being progressive” is a crime in modern America.
The response to January 6th unleashed a tripartite dynamic of liberty and destruction aimed at those who would not comply: a vast federal budget, access to cutting-edge technology, and an engaged public and private corporations willing to support government efforts to maximize punishment for a group of people guilty of a largely misguided belief.
The latest excesses of the digital nanny state’s tyranny can be traced back to the fanatical federal response after January 6th, which resulted in the largest FBI operation in history, with over 1,200 arrests and
700 convictionsAn estimated 3,000 people broke into the Capitol, most of whom did not engage in violent acts, but the dragnet that followed was the like of which America had never seen, pinpointing every single one of the “insurrectionists”‘ actions and destroying their lives and futures as humanely and extrajudicially as possible.
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“Like a laser.” The search for those who entered the Capitol was carried out using a variety of tools, including tracking cell phone location data; Private Banking InformationIt took a combination of factors, including thorough scrutiny of social media profiles, cutting-edge facial recognition technology, and the use of dedicated citizen informants. The liberal media lauded these detectives: “Rebel HunterThey spent days working unpaid hours tracking down the men and women who entered the Capitol on January 6th, as well as the small number of individuals who committed violent acts that day. J6 Tracking AppWithin the first few days of the official investigation, the FBI received more than 200,000 tips.
One of the people caught up in the J6 witch hunt was Steve Baker, an investigative reporter and correspondent for The Blaze News. On January 6, Baker was working as a freelancer covering the protests and was one of more than 50 media members documenting the events that day.
“I got arrested because I didn’t submit my story to the right publication,” Baker explains.
Video footage shows Baker acting calmly, without violence or provocation, and following police directions to leave. However, later that evening, Baker called Nancy Pelosi a “bitch” on camera. Authorities used this to retroactively determine that Baker’s time inside the Capitol was participating in “mob” behavior. Authorities then charged Baker with four misdemeanors.
“There have been literally hundreds of protests and riots that have caused far more damage and people have been killed, yet perpetrators have not been prosecuted, cases have been dropped, or no charges have been filed at all,” Baker said.
The difference, Baker said, is that non-leftists have only made one big mistake.
“The big difference is that January 6th was our only event. They’ve been building up hundreds of events over decades. When we finally did this one, they lost their minds and launched the largest sweeping investigation in the history of our nation by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice because our people had failed them once.”
The digital war against dissent
Dragnet is not an exaggeration. According to court documents, Google responded to thousands of government requests for location information, essentially issuing “mass warrants” to people inside and outside the Capitol, on the basis that their data and locations are not subject to privacy protections because they may have committed or “witnessed” a crime. In short, Stasi-like tactics and logic are commonplace among the upper echelons of the US security establishment.
Rachel Weiner and Drew Harwell
Note“Since 2016, law enforcement agencies have used geofencing warrants to obtain information from smartphone owners who use Google Location History, which periodically records a person’s location through a combination of cell tower, Internet Protocol, radio, GPS, and Bluetooth data.”
The response to January 6th unleashed a triumphant chain of liberty and destruction aimed at disobedient citizens: a combination of huge federal budgets and access to cutting-edge technology, and an engaged public and private corporations willing to support government efforts to maximize punishment for a group of people guilty of a largely misguided belief.
This multifaceted witch hunt resulted in the government declaring many
“Domestic terrorists” As Biden noted, he helped the mainstream corporate media promote numerous false stories, including: Serial perjurer People like Harry Dunn and David Lazarus who told a version of events that aligned with Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic establishment’s story.
“I actually saw a demonstration at the trial where the FBI boasted about their ability to track someone from Texas through Arkansas all the way to the Capitol,” Baker recalled.
“One night in Virginia, then we head across the river the next day. This is where we can see they literally went inside the Capitol, which is pretty accurate considering there was no cell phone signal that day.”
This was also clearly important in terms of the technology used on the ground.
“Some of the people in the crowd — and this isn’t specific to January 6th, this is typical of any crowd — but various federal agencies have assembled surveillance teams in the crowd, and they’re using very specialized technology,” Baker explained.
“We have no doubt at all that they were using real-time facial recognition technology to identify threats — that’s not a ‘bad’ or nefarious thing in and of itself — but we also know that they were going after innocent people.”
Research is also still ongoing regarding the technology used in crowds.
“We also believe there were assets in the crowd with jamming technology. The portable units used by our special forces and intelligence divisions are very effective at jamming from backpack-sized or smaller over very long distances.”
Baker pointed to “some of the most high-profile trials as well as some lesser known cases that are truly tragic and sad,” adding, “These people have been lied to and their lives have been destroyed. But the same thing doesn’t happen to the other side. It never will. Never will.”
While Kathy Griffin faced no legal consequences in a widely shared post holding up a bloody mannequin head of Donald Trump, and violent mobs driven by false narratives were burning down cities in the middle of the Summer of Love, conservatives faced an entirely different reality: Left-wing celebrities and anti-Trump activists routinely receive death threats with little fuss and little accountability (not to mention street violence), yet conservatives tend to be quickly jailed or killed when they step out of line.
Craig Robertson.
Journalists targeted
Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker handcuffed
Baker points out the horrific abuse of justice against Florida journalist JD Rivera.
“He conducted himself 100% professionally. He did not chant or sing slogans. He was not wearing any political finery. He had all of his professional photo and video equipment. … He was arrested in SWAT mode by over 20 agents. The crazy thing is, the warrant was for four basic misdemeanors, and yet they arrested him in SWAT mode. They shined red lights on his wife, his kids and him at 6:30 in the morning.”
Rivera refused to lie and accepted a plea bargain offer, went to trial, was found guilty on all four charges, and sentenced to eight months in prison, the first 60 days of which was in solitary confinement.
“In the end, JD’s crime wasn’t what he did that day. It was the fact that he was a Latino Trump activist.”
Baker faces possible jail time for not being left-wing and for his coverage of January 6th, and while a plea deal is still possible, he wants to know why other journalists are exempt from scrutiny if that happens.
“This process has caused major disruption to my life and my work. If I am offered a plea deal, of course I will negotiate it. I will negotiate it so I don’t have to lie. If I am offered a plea deal that says I trespassed and entered a restricted area, fine. That’s what I did.”
“But so were 60 other journalists. So this is selective prosecution. So I can say, ‘Yes, they are guilty of entering a restricted area.’ But I also have to ask why all 60 journalists are not being prosecuted. The New Yorker reporters, the New York Times reporters, the BuzzFeed reporters… are they not being prosecuted? Why are they not being prosecuted? French television, British television. They are not being prosecuted. This is selective prosecution.”
Baker’s case is currently on hold, but he is not giving up or succumbing to fear: His lawyers plan to file a motion for selective prosecution in the coming months.
As for his work as a journalist, Baker is continuing to investigate sensitive technology that may have been used on January 6, despite warnings from special forces and intelligence officials urging him not to do so any further. But Baker is not stopping his investigation.
“We have multiple dead man switches in case something happens to me,” Baker emphasizes.
“I’ve spoken publicly about it.”
