When Donald Trump was in the White House, journalists were viewed as national heroes, speaking truth to power and holding a mad-dog president accountable.
But not so much with Joe Biden at the nation’s helm.
The latest evidence is that the FBI on Friday is expected to arrest and gleefully frog-march a reporter from the conservative outlet The Blaze because of his reporting on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The reporter claims he has not been told exactly what the formal charges are and that he likely won’t find out until he’s in front of a judge on Friday.
Read: Judge Rules New Arizona Voting Law, Requiring Proof Of Citizenship, Is Not Discriminatory
Yet, major journalism and news organizations are silent on the issue.
According to The Blaze, reporter Steve Baker said the feds told him to turn himself in at the FBI’s Dallas field office at 7 a.m. Friday, wearing only “shorts and sandals.”
Baker said that indicates the FBI seeks his “humiliation,” complete with orange jumpsuit, handcuffs, and being loaded into a “prisoner transport” — even though the charges against him are supposedly nonviolent misdemeanors.
Baker added that his lawyer has told him to expect an “in and out” affair with “no intention” to detain after he appears before a federal magistrate.
“They didn’t have to go this route,” Baker told Blaze News on Tuesday.
Read: Florida Rep. Byron Donalds Says Biden Impeachment Inquiry Will Continue
“I’m not a depressive person, but I’m not happy about this,” Baker added to The Blaze. “I have prayed, ‘Lord, let this cup pass from me,’ but apparently it’s not going to.”
According to The Blaze, the FBI targeted Baker after a series of stories about his experiences in Washington during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Baker’s articles have, for example, questioned whether a U.S. Capitol Police officer lied under oath during, ironically, the trial of some Oath Keepers who supposedly participated in the riot.
Baker also has penned scathing pieces about the validity of comments of USCP officer Harry Dunn, who is black and claimed he was the target of racial slurs.
Baker also wrote pieces questioning the official narrative about a pipe bomb recovered on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Democratic National Committee, as now-Vice President Kamala Harris waited inside.
Read: Federal Judge In Texas Rules 2022 $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill Was Unconstitutional
The Federalist, which also reported on Baker’s case, predicted that the media will likely ignore Baker’s case.
“While unlikely to receive significant attention from America’s ‘democracy dies in darkness’ media, the targeting of Baker appears to be in response to his J6 coverage and represents a startling development in which the federal government now seemingly prosecutes journalists for exercising their First Amendment rights,” the Federalist noted.
“Baker’s ongoing matter is the latest in a long line of cases in which the FBI and Biden DOJ have prosecuted non-violent individuals related to the J6 demonstrations.”
Help support the Tampa Free Press by making any small donation by clicking here.
According to the Federalist, Blaze Media Editor-in-Chief Matthew Peterson called the Justice Department’s treatment of Baker “outrageous” and pointed out that there is “no need to put him in a jumpsuit or handcuffs except as a humiliation ritual or a show, which seems to be exactly what they are planning on doing on Friday.”
“Government retaliation such as this against journalists contradicts the very idea of a free press, the purpose of our form of government, and what once was the American way of life,” Peterson added. “This type of authoritarian behavior ‘should not be happening in America,’” he added.
Help support the Tampa Free Press by making any small donation by clicking here.
Android Users, Click To Download The Tampa Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our free newsletter.