Steve Baker describes humiliating treatment by FBI during arrest: 'I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for this'

Last Friday, investigative journalist and Blaze Media correspondent Steve Baker was arrested by the FBI for misdemeanor charges related to his reporting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Steve has been temporarily released, and now, he joins Glenn Beck to describe his experience in custody.

“I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for this because I've followed too many of these cases to not have been,” Steve tells Glenn. “I've seen too many of these guys — even misdemeanor defendants, even misdemeanor independent journalists — marched before a magistrate in leg chains and the orange jumpsuit, so I thought I was ready for it until they put the leg chains on.”

To make matters worse, Steve, who’s “a nonviolent misdemeanor defendant who has been utterly and totally cooperative since the very first phone call from the FBI over two and a half years ago,” was placed “in a cage with a meth dealer.”

Further, Steve was tried on the same day as a “felony defendant,” but unlike Steve, he wasn’t “guarded by U.S. Marshals with leg chains on.”

Steve's attorney, James Lee Bright, adds that in all his years, he’s “almost never” seen a misdemeanor defendant treated in such a way.

Steve’s handling amounts to one thing: intentional humiliation.

Steve says his charges were clearly “put together for the purpose of constructing a narrative for prosecution.”

His charges, according to the criminal complaint, are as follows:

• Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
• Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground
• Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building
• Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building

Shortly after Steve’s arrest, “the speaker of the house released 5,000 hours of videotape, much of it centering around [Steve], showing that [he wasn’t] parading or picketing or being disorderly at all.”

“So, how do they make that charge?” asks Glenn.

Steve assumes the DOJ is overcharging intentionally in order to “scare [him] into a quick plea deal.”

In regard to the first charge — knowingly entering a restricted building — Steve says, “Technically yes, I went in the building, so, if that is a crime, then it is a crime.”

“If that's a crime, then the crime has to be punished equally,” says Glenn, “so, the New York Times, the Washington Post — every single journalist would have to be charged with that crime, right?”

The lawful answer is yes, but the DOJ has proven time and time again it is above the law.

“We've estimated that roughly 60 journalists went into the Rotunda, into the Capitol building on that day,” says Bright.

However, only “six to seven have been charged ... all of those have been right of center media.”

Steve’s obvious targeting might also have something to do with what he calls “reporting on the press pool.”

“They didn’t like that,” says Steve.

To hear more, watch the clip below.

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