Incompetence would mean they have no clue. I genuinely believe that is not the case, and opportunity is really what this looks like here. I've found many politicians and legal professionals to really just use whatever they can to get what they want and throw as much at the wall to see what sticks.. Incompetence at least means some good faith that they do not know better, but I believe in most instances they do but they don't care.
Yes, IMHO, this is very much about governor Mike Parson using the court system as a "weapon" against the reporter (or more likely the newspaper).
It actually doesn't matter that there's no way the prosecution will "win" nor does this have anything to do with caring about information security.
Folks are wasting their breath if they explain why "view source" isn't hacking. The prosecution DOESN'T EVEN CARE.
Hopefully the Post-Dispatch has the resources to aggressively retaliate and take a pound of flesh in return. The charges were likely brought simply because the newspaper is stretched thin and they're either being told to "shut-up" or the governor is trying to pull "a Peter Thiel style" maneuver for some past grievance.
This doesn’t sound like incompetence. Or at least, targeting a journalist for prosecution because he revealed your incompetence sounds like a step down a bad road.