A criminal complaint was filed on Jan. 14 against Daniel Alan Baker, 33, for repeatedly using social media to transmit his intention to recruit and train like-minded individuals "in furtherance of his Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Extremism Ideology. Baker has made multiple violent threats to those he claims are "white supremacists, fascists, United States persons with different ideologies than his, and allies of the United States. In addition, BAKER has promoted the killing of United States military officers." Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney Northern District of Florida, stated his arrest on Jan. 16.
Nicholas Marti, a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and affiant in the complaint, documents multiple examples of posts on various social media platforms that indicate his alleged intention to commit violence. It was the most recent post; however, that drew federal law enforcement's attention, landing his case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division.
He seemed to be angered by the protests in D.C. on Jan. 6 and posted the following "under the details section of the "Defend Tallahassee" Facebook event page on Jan. 12, 2021." This post allegedly shows cause for the criminal offense, which was his "interstate transmission in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to kidnap any person or threat to injure the person of another."
Graphic/Criminal Complaint/Daniel Alan Baker
He also issued a "call to arms" in a since-removed YouTube video and flier, asking all Florida residents to "rise up" and "encircle terrorists who attack the Capitol. Let them take the Capitol and fight with cops. SURROUND THEM AND TRAP THEM INSIDE."
Graphic/YouTube Post/Daniel Alan Baker/Criminal Complaint Document
From 2006 to 2007, Baker was enlisted in the United States Army as an airborne infantryman. The complaint says that he was removed from military service with an other-than-honorable discharge after he went AWOL prior to his unit deploying to Iraq. It also says that he joined the People's Protection Units (the YPG), a group fighting against ISIS in Syria and the Turkish Government. A VICE documentary on YouTube shows him training and fighting overseas. A compilation video posted by Baker and taken from the VICE documentary shows graphic content of "footage from the frontline of the war against ISIS."
Previous to his arrest, Baker had traveled across the U.S. during the summer of 2020 to participate in protests that resulted in violence "to include joining the CHOP/CHAZ movement in Seattle, Washington during the summer of 2020." CHOP refers to "Capitol Hill Organized Protest." CHAZ refers to "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone." The violent protests and their impact on the community were covered in several articles by UncoverDC in June with an accompanying opinion piece by Daniel Bobinski on the growing momentum of Marxist ideology in our country, billed as peaceful protests.
The complaint also highlights Baker's chilling statement regarding his disappointment over the "lack of violent opposition" in Seattle's CHAZ. He was featured in an article called "The Fall of Chop" on Webflow.io, where he lamented, “I don’t got any pull here man. I told them, if they really wanted a revolution, we needed to get AK’s and start making bombs. No one listed [listened] to me.” An October social media post shows him hoping "the right" will stage a coup so that he can "slay enemies again."
Graphic/Social Media Post/Daniel Alan Baker/Criminal Complaint Document
