The Blaze Media columnist was arrested March 1 in Dallas and made a previous appearance in Washington D.C. federal court.
Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker pleaded not guilty on April 3 to four Jan. 6 misdemeanor charges lodged against him by federal prosecutors.
Mr. Baker, 63, of Raleigh, North Carolina, entered the pleas before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C. He and defense attorney William Shipley appeared via remote video for the arraignment hearing.
He was charged in a
criminal complaint unsealed in D.C. on March 1 with knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds without authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
On Jan. 6, Mr. Baker shot video and
reported on the protests and violence at the Capitol for his independent political website, The Pragmatic Constitutionalist. His video footage was licensed to HBO, the New York Times, Epoch TV, and other media outlets.
He joined Blaze Media as a reporter in fall 2023.
For more than a year, Mr. Baker has asserted that the threat of prosecution by the DOJ has a lot more to do with his investigative articles and videos on Capitol Police, the Jan. 6 pipe bombs and the Oath Keepers trial. He said he was
warned repeatedly by insiders that his coverage was making DOJ officials very unhappy.
He joined a list of at least nine right-leaning independent journalists and live-streamers prosecuted by the DOJ. His case has
raised the question of why mainstream or left-leaning journalists have not also faced arrest or prosecution for being at the Capitol.
Mr. Baker
surrendered to the FBI in Dallas on March 1. He was brought into U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas wearing leg irons with his handcuffed wrists pinioned to a belly chain around his waist. Later that day he was released on his own recognizance.
On March 25, Judge Cooper issued an order telling Mr. Baker he must comply with all of his conditions of pretrial release. The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services office in Washington filed a report claiming Mr. Baker was in violation of a handful of his release conditions.
He denied the charge, saying a
misunderstanding due to his long-term absence from Raleigh had prevented him from turning in his expired passport, removing weapons from his home, and meeting with his probation officer. He said the probation agent was aware of the situation.
Mr. Baker said he met with his local probation officer in Raleigh on April 1 and is in full compliance with the release terms.
