Blaze Media Is an Embarrassment to Conservatives

On November 8, Blaze Media published an article by Steve Baker and Joseph Hanneman in which the duo all but purported to have identified the individual responsible for planting pipe bombs outside both the Republican and Democratic National Committees’ respective headquarters on January 5, 2021.

Underneath a graphic featuring grainy footage of the individual authorities believed might be responsible and four photos of former Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff, Baker and Hanneman wrote:

A forensic analysis of a female former U.S. Capitol Police officer’s gait is a 94%-98% match to the unique stride of the long-sought Jan. 6 pipe-bomb suspect, according to a Blaze News investigation confirmed by several intelligence sources.

A source close to a congressional investigation of Jan. 6 additionally told Blaze News evidence has emerged recently that pointed toward law enforcement possibly being involved in the planting of the pipe bombs.

A software algorithm that analyzes walking parameters including flexion (knee bend), hip extension, speed, step length, cadence, and variance rated Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, 31, of Alexandria, Va., as a 94% match to the bomb suspect shown on video from Jan. 5, 2021. The veteran analyst who ran the analysis for Blaze News said that based on visual observations the program can struggle with, he personally pegged the match at closer to 98%.

“The possible solution to the pipe-bomb mystery could have far-reaching reverberations,” submitted Baker and Hanneman. “In congressional testimony, [Christopher] Wray said Jan. 6 was an indictment of right-wing domestic violent extremists. He said white-supremacy-fueled domestic violent extremism is one of the major threats to the nation. The prospect of a Capitol Police officer being the perpetrator, if confirmed, could recast the entire story of Jan. 6. It could start to unravel the carefully crafted, zealously defended Democrat narrative that massive crowds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as part of an insurrection to keep Trump in office and deny Joseph R. Biden Jr. the presidency.”

“This might just be the biggest scandal and conspiracy in American history. Many heroes were involved in bringing this to light. Some we can name in coming days. Some who want no recognition. And there’s much more to this yet to be told,” declared Baker while promoting the story in a post on X that collected 16 million views.

Well, at least that last bit was on the money.

Kerkhoff produced an alibi — a video of her playing with her puppies at the same time the crime was committed — last month. And on Thursday, authorities arrested Brian Cole Jr. for the crimes that Blaze Media had tried to pin on Kerkhoff.

It doesn’t take a tort lawyer to do the math on what ought to follow from there. Just as it doesn’t take a stuffy journalism professor to identify this unfortunate episode as a wake-up call for the Right.

Conservative media emerged as an answer to a problem that most members of legacy media are loath to admit exists. Nearly every major publication and network is staffed by liberal reporters, who are overseen by liberal editors or producers, who report to liberal upper management. The result is not just a biased product, but an infuriating lack of accountability for it. It’s good, then, that there’s an alternative able to round out their coverage.

That alternative, though, should have a higher aspiration than producing shock jocks whose principal aim is to entertain, rather than inform. To be sure, there are plenty of talented, scrupulous conservative journalists at National Review, The Washington Examiner, The Free Press, Fox News, and numerous other reputable outlets.

But for every one of “the good guys,” there is a bad one to match in the form of Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, or the denizens of One America News Network, and, yes, Blaze Media — many of which are cleaning up with right-wing audiences.

And when one of the bad guys makes a reckless mistake of the kind Baker, Hanneman, and every other irredeemable dolt who signed off on their story did, it gives a bad name to their peers.

The only way for conservatives to rid themselves of bad actors with such a brazen disregard for the truth is to stop rewarding them for disregarding it — and to recognize that embarrassing blunders like this one reflect poorly on the entire movement.

Grace is a virtue — until it’s taken for granted. And if there’s a lesson to be taken from this debacle, it’s that as long as buffoonery remains profitable, there will always be those willing to play the clown.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.