Members of Antifa in the streets of Portland in June.
On Friday (Jan. 15), the FBI arrested a self-described “hard-core leftist” anarchist for allegedly inciting violent disruptions aimed at Trump supporters protesting outside the Florida State Capitol.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced that the FBI arrested Daniel Baker, 33, at the State Capitol and took him into custody on suspicion of threatening kidnapping or injury.
According to the criminal complaint, Baker is a former U.S. Army airborne infantryman who was kicked out of the Army and joined People’s Protection Units, a group fighting ISIS and the Turkish government in Syria, in 2017. The organization is a member of the Kurdistan Alliance. The group is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. government.
The complaint says Baker is a “dangerous extremist” who claims to kill anyone who disagrees with his ideology, including U.S. military officers.
“Baker made numerous threats of violence against those he claimed were white supremacists, fascists, Americans who disagreed with his ideology, and allies of the United States. In addition, Beck has encouraged the killing of U.S. military officers.” The indictment reads.
More recently, Baker incited leftist radicals to violence against protesters gathered outside the Florida Capitol this Sunday, Jan. 17. “He specifically called on others to join him in surrounding all protesters and using firearms to confine them to the state capitol.” The FBI complaint said.
Jack Posobiec, a senior U.S. Navy intelligence officer, called Baker an “Antifa supporter” on Twitter and released a flyer in which Baker publicly called for an “armed confrontation with terrorists” on Jan. 20.
In the flyer, Beck portrayed Trump supporters as “terrorists” and claimed that “there will be an armed coup” on January 20 and that only “armed groups” could be used to stop it.
The complaint also cites other statements by Baker that incite violence. For example, Beck posted on Facebook, “I don’t care about (expletive), I’m an anarchist and I want to see capitalist society burn.
The complaint alleges that Beck had said in a Youtube video he posted that he had received money from Soros and would give cash rewards for providing information about Trump supporters.
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The indictment alleges that Baker claimed to have received money from Soros and would give cash rewards for information on Trump supporters. (Web screenshot)
After Black Lives Matter (BLM) lost the Seattle “occupation,” Baker publicly expressed disappointment that there was “no violent opposition” there. He described himself as a “hardcore leftist” who had traveled to Seattle to join the “revolution.
“If they really want a revolution, we need to pick up AKs (automatic rifles) and start making bombs,” Baker said. Baker said.
In a post on social media last Oct. 20, Baker wrote that he hoped the right would stage a coup on Nov. 3 (election day) so he could “kill the enemy again.
The complaint says Baker has gone “down a path of radicalization” and “has a high probability of immediately initiating violence.
With the assistance of Florida law enforcement, FBI agents were able to arrest Baker.
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