Interrogated, abused & tortured J6 prisoner released just 5 days ago tells his harrowing story of jail time: 'Like a scene out of a movie'



If you haven’t heard the name John Strand, here is a brief recap of his story:

Strand attended the Capitol on January 6 as the friend and bodyguard of Dr. Simone Gold, who was scheduled — and legally permitted — to speak on Capitol grounds that day. However, when the Oathkeepers and Strand escorted Dr. Gold to her speaking location, the chaos at the Capitol had already begun.

While Strand and Gold were uninvolved in the breaching of the Capitol building and never once participated in violence, they made the mistake of entering the building along with the crowd. They entered and departed peacefully like so many thousands of others, but this was enough to land both of them in hot water with the DOJ.

Both Stand and Gold were some of the first to be arrested and charged with four misdemeanors as well as the 1512 felony. While Gold took a plea deal, involving 60 days in prison, Strand, outraged by the obvious injustice, fought the charges. For his resistance, he was convicted on all charges and sentenced to 32 months in prison.

However, now that 1512 has been overturned by SCOTUS, Strand has been freed.

Just days out of prison, he joins Jill Savage and the “Blaze News Tonight” panel to recount his grueling experience behind bars.

"I was in HELL" - J6 Prisoner Gives FIRST Interview Post-Releasewww.youtube.com

For Strand, jail was “a very painful, miserable place.”

“God did a lot of great things, but it was terrible,” he tells Jill.

“My time in prison was actually split between two facilities — the first half in Miami, where I was actually viciously abused in an isolation environment for about four straight months, which was essentially like being waterboarded, and when I was released from there and transferred to another location, where it was a little less oppressive, it felt like I was trying to breathe the oxygen of freedom through a straw from underneath the swamp,” he recounts.

“You were being held in solitary confinement, which is essentially torture,” says investigative journalist and Blaze Media correspondent Steve Baker, adding that when Dr. Gold tried to sound the alarm on Strand’s abusive treatment, “There was a problem getting this message out” because “they tend to punish you more.”

“That’s exactly what happened to me,” Strand confirms. “They fabricated a whole series of ridiculous circumstances to put me in isolation for a couple of weeks basically to say, ‘Watch out, we'll crush you if you look sideways.”’

“They pulled me out for a couple days and then a story that I had nothing to do with went viral on media. Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene reported on me being tortured and abused, and they put me in this interrogation room and grilled me about this, like I had something to do with it — like a scene out of a movie. And then they threw me back in, and I wasn't seen again for three and a half months.”

“How did you mentally make it through that time?” asks Jill.

To hear Strand’s answer, watch the clip above.

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Steve Baker describes humiliating treatment by FBI during arrest: 'I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for this'



Last Friday, investigative journalist and Blaze Media correspondent Steve Baker was arrested by the FBI for misdemeanor charges related to his reporting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Steve has been temporarily released, and now, he joins Glenn Beck to describe his experience in custody.

“I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for this because I've followed too many of these cases to not have been,” Steve tells Glenn. “I've seen too many of these guys — even misdemeanor defendants, even misdemeanor independent journalists — marched before a magistrate in leg chains and the orange jumpsuit, so I thought I was ready for it until they put the leg chains on.”

To make matters worse, Steve, who’s “a nonviolent misdemeanor defendant who has been utterly and totally cooperative since the very first phone call from the FBI over two and a half years ago,” was placed “in a cage with a meth dealer.”

Further, Steve was tried on the same day as a “felony defendant,” but unlike Steve, he wasn’t “guarded by U.S. Marshals with leg chains on.”

Steve's attorney, James Lee Bright, adds that in all his years, he’s “almost never” seen a misdemeanor defendant treated in such a way.

Steve’s handling amounts to one thing: intentional humiliation.

Steve says his charges were clearly “put together for the purpose of constructing a narrative for prosecution.”

His charges, according to the criminal complaint, are as follows:

  • Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
  • Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground
  • Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building
  • Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building

Shortly after Steve’s arrest, “the speaker of the house released 5,000 hours of videotape, much of it centering around [Steve], showing that [he wasn’t] parading or picketing or being disorderly at all.”

“So, how do they make that charge?” asks Glenn.

Steve assumes the DOJ is overcharging intentionally in order to “scare [him] into a quick plea deal.”

In regard to the first charge — knowingly entering a restricted building — Steve says, “Technically yes, I went in the building, so, if that is a crime, then it is a crime.”

“If that's a crime, then the crime has to be punished equally,” says Glenn, “so, the New York Times, the Washington Post — every single journalist would have to be charged with that crime, right?”

The lawful answer is yes, but the DOJ has proven time and time again it is above the law.

“We've estimated that roughly 60 journalists went into the Rotunda, into the Capitol building on that day,” says Bright.

However, only “six to seven have been charged ... all of those have been right of center media.”

Steve’s obvious targeting might also have something to do with what he calls “reporting on the press pool.”

“They didn’t like that,” says Steve.

To hear more, watch the clip below.


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Steve Baker reveals WHO is calling the shots in regard to J6 cases: 'They know where all the bodies are buried'



Tomorrow morning at 7:00am, investigative journalist and Blaze Media correspondent Steve Baker will turn himself in to the FBI. For what crimes, exactly, nobody knows.

What we do know is that Baker is facing misdemeanor charges connected to his reporting at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but until his arrest, the specific charges he faces will remain a mystery.

Baker was initially threatened by law enforcement two and a half years ago in November 2021.

“They actually told my attorney at the time what the charges were going to be then, but because I’m a little outspoken and vocal about what’s happening with me, we were told at the time by an assistant U.S. attorney that a judge would not be happy with me,” he explains.

By going to the press after the threat, Baker tells Glenn Beck that he believes he’s “intensified that, accelerated that, and lit that candle brighter.”

“Why would you be in trouble for defending yourself in the public square?” Glenn asks, disturbed.

When Baker was initially threatened, his attorney asked the U.S. attorney if they were saying that his client should forgo his First Amendment right under the threat of persecution from the government.

“And she said, ‘Oh, no, we’re not really saying that. It’s just that we’re concerned for him and his status,’” Baker explains.

“Fast forward two years under the current threat, and they won’t tell me the charges this time — literally quote unquote from the U.S. attorney, 'Because he’ll tweet it out,"' he continues.

Baker says that when he turns himself in tomorrow, he’s supposed to be wearing shorts and flip-flops because it’s easier for him to change into an orange jumpsuit and leg chains, but of course, that's not the real reason.

“This is retribution,” Baker says.

“This is evil,” Glenn adds, shocked. “Just evil.”

Meanwhile, protestors who participated in riots or wreaked havoc as a part of Antifa have faced no consequences from the government.

Only those who align themselves with the right wing or Donald Trump are being prosecuted, Steve explains, calling it "selective prosecution."

Among the 60 documented journalists who entered through the doors or the broken windows on January 6 were two journalists — one a reporter for the New Yorker named Luke Mogelson and another journalist who had spent a lot of time working on the Latinos for Trump campaign — who entered parallel to one another.

While Mogelson walked away free (presumably because he's left-leaning), the Trump-affiliated journalist was given "four misdemeanors, swatted by over 20 agents at his home with the red dots on his wife, his children, and, of course, obviously himself at 6:30 in the morning" and was then "convicted,” Baker explains.

"There is ever more evidence of the insane corruption at the top of the Capitol Police," Baker tells Glenn. They're "holding back this final series of documents that we need to bring justice in those particular cases."

"They are more powerful than Congress itself," he continues, adding that House Speaker Mike Johnson told him that he alone has authority over distribution of the J6 footage. However, considering "there's not been anything released in weeks," it's looking like there are other powerful forces at work.

"My sources said, 'I told you, it's the Capitol Police,'" Steve says.

Why the Capitol Police?

"They know where all the bodies are buried. They know who buried them. They know who's sleeping with who — they know everything, and they are the personal security guards of Congress. That's why they're so powerful," is Baker's answer to that.

While he knows what he’s in for, Baker is keeping his head held high.

“I’ve had over two years to prepare for this. I’ve game-planned it all out in my head. I’m not going to sleep tonight, I’m not even going to try,” he tells Glenn.

“I’m just going to prepare, pray, and then I’m going to put on my suit and tie and walk in with my head up,” he adds.

To hear more, watch the video below.


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