An ex-U.S. Army soldier, Daniel Alan Baker, 33, has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kidnap and attack Trump supporters during demos planned at the Florida state Capitol
An ex-Army soldier who described himself as a ‘hardcore leftist’ has been arrested after allegedly issuing a call to arms online.
Daniel Alan Baker, 33, is alleged to have attempted to recruit ‘like-minded’ individuals to join him at the Florida state Capitol in Tallahassee, days before Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration.
Baker is alleged to have taken part in a number of Black Lives Matter and anti-police protests around the country last year.
He was arrested by the FBI on Friday along with agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Tallahassee Police Department.
Prosecutors say Baker was turfed out of the army after going AWOL instead of following orders and being deployed with his unit to Iraq. He is also alleged to have fought alongside a militia group in Syria.
Baker, 33, is alleged to have made threats online and encouraged other ‘like-minded’ people to join him
‘This is an armed coup and can only be stopped by an armed community. If you’re afraid to die fighting the enemy, stay in bed and live,’ a flyer read
Various other alleged postings on social media show Baker encouraging people to join him and asks others to buy guns and ‘take up arms’
Baker had been promoting an event at the Florida State Capitol Sunday. He was arrested Friday
He has been charged with violating a federal law that makes it a felony to ‘transmit in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.’
Authorities monitored Baker’s social media posts which were found to be increasingly disturbing in recent months including an attempt to recruit and train others to further his anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism ideology.
The criminal complaint also details how Baker has made threats to white supremacists, fascists, and American citizens whose political loyalties do not tally with his own, including Trump supporters.
He is also alleged to have promoted the murder of U.S. military officers.
In recent weeks he began posting that people should start preparing for a new civil war.
An FBI internal memo has warned of possible armed protests at state Capitol buildings in all 50 states in the days leading up to the inauguration on Wednesday
A number of alleged social media postings in recent months appeared to promote violence
In one posting, Baker appears to note that he is being followed by police
He was dishonorably discharged from the military in 2007 after going AWOL instead of being sent to Iraq
In a comment on a Florida news station’s report about preparations the Tallahassee police were making in advance of Inauguration Day Baker shared a flyer on January 14 entitled, ‘Call to Arms January 20!!’
‘This is an armed COUP and can only be stopped by an armed community!’ the flyer stated. ‘If you’re afraid to die fighting the enemy, stay in bed and live,’ it read.
He went on to allegedly instruct others to join him via the use of firearms, encircling any protesters and confining them at the state Capitol complex in Tallahassee.
He also posted a YouTube video of himself printing the flyers.
Authorities allege that last week, in the hours before his arrest, Baker was looking to purchase more firearms, including an AK-47 and a pistol.
Baker, pictured here, is alleged to have joined a militia group in Syria in 2017
Baker received a temporary ban from Facebook following the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, but no sooner had the ban been lifted, Baker posted: ‘Death to amerikka of course, f*** the president, current and elect.’
He is also alleged to have made a number of posts on social media offering money to anyone who would help him identify and hunt down those seen in videos of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
Baker claimed also to be offering rewards for anyone identifying the Capitol police officers that he believed were allowing demonstrators freely past barricades.
‘There will be no faith in law enforcement until every single department is shut down and replaced by new faces,’ Baker stated in a YouTube video on January 8.
‘Yall better hope the cops find you before we do cuz l believe in torturing prisoners for information. Yall better turn yourselves in cuz we dont intend to involve the cops.’
Baker served in the army for a year but was dishonorably discharged in 2007 after going AWOL instead of heading with his unit on a deployment to Iraq.
Baker is pictured during a his time with the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group fighting in Syria against ISIS and the Turkish government
After being homeless for almost ten years he then is said to have joined the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group fighting in Syria against ISIS and the Turkish government.
In the summer of 2020, Baker is believed to have traveled around the country protesting against ‘police brutality and the destruction of America.’ He took part in street demonstrations in Seattle and Nashville.
The position of law enforcement is clear: ‘Extremists intent on violence from either end of the political and social spectrums must be stopped, and they will be stopped,’ U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe said in a statement.
‘The diligent work in this case by the FBI and other public safety organizations has averted a crisis with this arrest, and we will not stop in our efforts to detect, deter, and disrupt anyone else planning to incite or commit violence.
‘While extremists who plan mayhem may skulk in the shadows, it’s important that we force them into the light and bring them to justice,’ Keefe said.
‘This arrest serves as a message to anyone who intends to incite or commit violence in the Northern District of Florida: If you represent a threat to public safety, we will come for you, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.’
On Saturday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allowed Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey to bring in the National Guard to help protect the state Capitol.
It came after an FBI internal memo warned of possible armed protests at state Capitol buildings in all 50 states across the country in the days leading up to the inauguration.