On January 15th, 2021, two men received a knock on the door of their Tallahassee apartment from someone claiming to be delivering a Postmate parcel. The two hadn’t ordered anything and raised suspicion that someone was trying to break in and rob their home so they said they didn’t order anything and refused to open the door. Moments later, their door crashed open and a percussive grenade ignited as FBI swarmed in with guns drawn, yelling.

This was the arrest of US military veteran, YPG volunteer medic and instructor of yoga and jujitsu Daniel Baker on charges of inciting violence at Florida’s state capital. This may sound like a familiar story of government arrests across the country since the January 6th far right riot to stop the counting of votes that Trump supporters and avowed white nationalists engaged. The difference lies in the fact that Dan Baker wasn’t calling for the storming of anything. The FBI alleges that he made posts online calling for people to resist an attempted coup that elements of the far right had been promoting since the failed acts of January 6th in DC, where armed putschists would take State capitals and public officials hostage. So, why did the FBI targetting Mr Baker? Why has he not been allowed private meetings with a lawyer since his detention? Why was he kept in solitary since his pre-trial time at the Federal Correction Institution at Tallahassee begun?

On October 12th, 2021, Dan Baker was sentenced to 44 months in Federal Prison for “interstate communication of threats” for his facebook posts and his militant anti-fascism, including his time fighting Daesh or ISIS in Rojava. His defense is appealing the ruling, otherwise he’s expected to be released at the soonest in March of 2024.

For the hour, we’re sharing our March 7th, 2021 conversation with Jack and Eric. Both are anti-racist activists, students of Daniel’s yoga and jujitsu instruction and Eric was the roommate that was present at the time of the home invasion by the FBI. You can find links to articles about the case at the instagram account, @FreeDanBaker, you can contact support at [email protected] (and use that to donate on PayPal) and find his amazon wishlist on the instagram.

You can write to Dan Baker at:
Daniel Alan Baker #25765-509
FCI Memphis
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O, BOX 34550
MEMPHIS, TN 38184

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• Unimposed PDF
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Some media coverage of Dan's case:

• "A Florida Anarchist Will Spend Years in Prison for Online Posts Prompted by Jan. 6 Riot" by Natasha Leonard: https://theintercept.com/2021/10/16/daniel-baker-anarchist-capitol-riot/
• 'To See the Danger of a Domestic “War on Terror,” Look No Further Than This Florida Case' by Branko Mercetic: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/daniel-baker-florida-case-fbi-capitol/
• "FBI Arrests Activist Daniel Baker Over Posts About Police Abuse and Self Defense" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown: https://reason.com/2021/02/16/fbi-arrests-activist-daniel-baker-over-posts-about-police-abuse-and-self-defense/

Other related reading:

• "Indigenous man faces up to 10 years in prison for Facebook posts" by Creede Newton: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/19/holdindigenous-man-faces-10-years-for-facebook-comments-during-b

• "George Floyd's killing turned them into activists. What are they doing now?" by Tim Stelloh: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/george-floyd-s-killing-turned-them-activists-what-are-they-n1248746

• 'State Legislatures Make “Unprecedented” Push on Anti-Protest Bills' by Alleen Brown and Akela Lacyhttps://theintercept.com/2021/01/21/anti-protest-riot-state-laws/

Transcription, Zines, Support...

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Featured tracks:

• Angels Sing by Apollo Brown from Trophies
• U.N.I.Verse at War by The Roots from Instrumentals
• The Sunrise Over Rojava by Lee Brickley from Songs for Rojava (apparently inspired by Daniel's crew in Rojava)