FBI arrests former U.S. soldier in alleged plot to carry out violence at Florida Capitol
A former U.S. Army soldier from Tallahassee angered over the siege of the U.S. Capitol was arrested by the FBI after issuing a call to arms for a violent attack on protesters Sunday at Florida’s Capitol.
Daniel Alan Baker, 33, was arrested Friday on a federal charge involving transmission of a threat to kidnap or injure, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced in a news release.Prosecutors say Baker, a former airborne infantryman with reported ties to a foreign terrorist group, planned to violently confront protesters at the Capitol on Sunday, the same day the FBI warned of violence at all 50 state capitols.
What we know:The arrest of Daniel Baker in Florida Capitol plot
“Baker issued a call to arms for like-minded individuals to violently confront protesters gathered at the Florida Capitol this Sunday,” federal prosecutors said. “He specifically called for others to join him in encircling any protesters and confining them at the Capitol complex using firearms.”
On Thursday, Baker posted an 18-second video on his YouTube channel showing him print out fliers with the headline, “CALL TO ARMS JANUARY 20TH!”
The flier said “armed racists” planted the Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol and that they would continue to wage an armed coup of every statehouse in the country, including the Capitol in Tallahassee.
“We need ALL FLORIDA RESIDENTS to RISE UP!” the flier said. “Here in Florida we must circle the terrorists who attack the Capitol! Let them take the capitol and fight with the cops. SURROUND THEM AND TRAP THEM INSIDE.”
The flier said “Tally residents,” including combat veterans, have “answered the call to arms.”
“We will protect Capitol RESIDENTS and CIVILIANS from armed racist mobs with EVERY CALIBER AVAILABLE,” the flier said. “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.”
Read about a Tallahassee man's plot against Florida Capitol:Criminal Complaint -- Daniel Baker
Baker, who is being held in the Federal Detention Center in Tallahassee, appeared Friday via video before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles A. Stampelos.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lazaro Fields argued Baker was a flight risk and a danger to the community if allowed out. A detention hearing was set for Jan. 21.
Sporting a shaved head and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Baker spoke only once, saying: “I’d like to get out of here after Inauguration Day. I would prefer whatever is safest for me.”
Baker was arrested with assistance from the Tallahassee Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI was informed Oct. 8 that Baker was threatening violence and using social media to “recruit and train” others to advance his “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism ideology,” according to the criminal complaint.
“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,” the complaint states. “In addition, Baker has promoted the killing of United States military officers.”
A couple of weeks before the general election, Baker posted on social media, "God I hope the right tries a coup Nov 3rd cuz I'm so f------ down to slay enemies again."
“Extremists intent on violence from either end of the political and social spectrums must be stopped, and they will be stopped,” U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe said in a news release. "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.”
Baker posted more than 80 videos on his YouTube channel, most over the past year. The videos included footage of protests, military and martial-arts training and overseas combat. Some of his most recent videos included a bootlegged Lincoln Project ad attacking Sen. Rick Scott and a clip from an Amazon show about Nazi hunters.
“I am a certified yoga teacher, combat lifesaver and armed security guard,” he wrote on YouTube. “I am also a jiujitsu champion and a traveling fighter. I treat emergency trauma, especially gun shot and shrapnel wounds. I fought against ISIS in Baghuz, Dier Ez Zor in Syria with the YPG and I share their political views. I
Federal prosecutors noted that Baker posed with firearms and high-capacity magazines and supported the use of violent tactics in his videos. Over recent days, they said, his social media posts “escalated significantly” and showed he was trying to buy more guns.
“Baker, who actively participated in multiple protests throughout the United States last summer, has used social media as a way to promote, encourage and educate his followers on how to incapacitate and debilitate law enforcement officers,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Baker enlisted in the Army in 2006 but got an “other-than-honorable” discharge a year later after going AWOL before his unit was scheduled to deploy in Iraq.
He was homeless and unemployed for nearly a decade, from 2008 to 2017, according to court documents. He lived mostly in Tallahassee during that time, occasionally working as a security guard.
In 2017, he joined the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group fighting in Syria against ISIS and the government of Turkey, prosecutors said. He claimed to be a YPG sniper and appeared in a documentary film fighting militants overseas. YPG is affiliated with Kurdistan’s Working Party (PKK), which the U.S. labels a terrorist organization.
Feds: 'Use every tool' to stop attacks
The arrest comes as Tallahassee and capital cities across the country brace for the possibility of violence ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. It marked perhaps the first arrest in the nation related to threats that surfaced after last week’s mayhem in Washington.
U.S. Attorney Keefe, in a Wednesday interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, said he was not aware of any specific threat aimed at Florida’s Capitol. Baker posted his “call to arms” video the following day.
More:U.S. Capitol siege: Feds investigating 'persons of interest' from North Florida
More:Amid fears of violence, FAMUPD chief says to stay away from Capitol; FSU beefs up patrols
Keefe said in the interview that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were focused on finding and stopping any act of domestic terrorism following the U.S. Capitol assault. He alluded to the use of heightened surveillance and intelligence gathering designed to prevent an attack from happening.
“The key is to use every tool that we have — federal, state and local working very closely in coordination — in a constitutionally compliant way that isn’t government Big Brother surveillance … to identify those individuals, groups, their coordination with one another, to intervene in that process and disrupt and dismantle it before it actually is in the execution phase. That process is happening."
More:City Hall, County Courthouse closed Tuesday, Wednesday amid threats of violence
Keefe said there are “persons of interest” from the Northern District of Florida, which stretches from Pensacola to Gainesville and includes the capital city. He could not comment on whether those individuals may be involved in planned future attacks.
Rachel L. Rojas, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division, said the bureau is “laser focused” on stopping anyone intent on inciting violence.
“We will not tolerate those who seek to wreak havoc in our communities,” she said. “We are fully coordinating with law enforcement partners to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens in North Florida.”
Reporter Karl Etters contributed to this article. Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
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