TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) – Federal law enforcement agents have arrested a Florida Man and charged him with trying to organize an armed response to pro-President Donald Trump protesters expected at the state Capitol on Sunday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the FBI arrested Daniel Baker of Tallahassee on Friday.
Authorities say Baker issued a “call to arms” on social media to recruit people in a plot to create an armed circle around protesters and trap them in the Capitol complex “using firearms.”
“Extremists intent on violence from either end of the political and social spectrums must be stopped, and they will be stopped,” said Lawrence Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “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.”
Court documents describe a series of threats of violence and a prediction of civil war Baker made on social media.
“REMEMBER THAT THE COPS WONT PROTECT US BECAUSE THE COPS AND KLAN GO HAND IN HAND!” Baker wrote on a Facebook event page he created, according to the affidavit. “If you are afraid to die fighting the enemy, then stay in bed and live. Call all of your friends and Rise Up!”
Baker is described as anti-Trump, anti-government, anti-white supremacists and anti-police.
He’s also a former U.S. Army Airborne infantryman who was kicked out of the service with an other-than-honorable discharge in 2007 after going AWOL before being deployed to Iraq.
Prosecutors say in recent days; his social media posts had escalated significantly. He specifically expressed an intent to violently disrupt protests occurring between now and Inauguration Day and was actively recruiting others to join him, stated court documents.
“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,” Keefe said. “Daniel Baker’s actions show that he is a dangerous extremist, and the law-abiding public is safer now that he has been arrested. We are, and will remain, on high alert and will take all appropriate actions against credible threats to the people of our District.”
To report information, or suspicious activity, contact local law enforcement, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or 911 in case of emergency.
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