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'Stephen Ignoramus' – who livestreamed himself inside the Capitol – arrested in North Carolina, DOJ says

Witnesses told they FBI they'd grown concerned about Stephen Baker's streams that featured conspiracies and 'mockery of minority groups.'

WASHINGTON — A former D.C. musician who allegedly livestreamed his participation in the Capitol Riot under the pseudonym “Stephen Ignoramus” was arrested Monday in North Carolina.

A warrant was issued for Stephen Maury Baker’s arrest on Saturday in the District Court for the District of Columbia on preliminary charges of entering a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Baker was subsequently arrested on Monday in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to a criminal complaint, at least four individuals contacted the FBI with information about a man who had live-streamed from inside the Capitol building on January 6 under the name “Stephen Ignoramus.”

The tipsters were able to provide the FBI with a phone number and professional profile of Stephen Maury Baker, a former music teacher and gig musician in D.C., which matched the appearance of “Stephen Ignoramus.”

One of the witnesses interviewed by the FBI reportedly said they had known Baker for 10 years and had grown alarmed at the content he had been streaming, which was described including “conspiracy theories and mockery of minority groups.”

According to the criminal complaint, investigators were also able to find a number of videos on multiple streaming sites belonging to Baker that showed him inside the Capitol building during the insurrection on Jan. 6. Investigators said in the videos Baker showed his face and referred to himself as “Stephen Ignoramus” on several occasions.

At one point during the stream Baker allegedly said, “I’m Stephen. I’m a live streamer and a musician. We’re having fun, huh? Repent and believe in Jesus.” Later in the stream, investigators said he can be heard saying “gotta stay away from the cops” and that the police were trying to push him and others out of the Capitol.

Tipsters told the FBI it appeared a stream from January 6 had been removed from his YouTube channel after it was broadcast on CNN. They also reported that at least one of his channels had previously been banned by YouTube. The FBI was able to find a cached version of his channel that reportedly had a number of videos that had been removed after the Capitol riot.

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