KALORAMA, WASHINGTON: A 37-year-old man, who was wanted for crimes related to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, has been arrested with firearms and other explosive materials after running towards Barack Obama's Washington neighborhood. Taylor Taranto was arrested on Thursday, June 29 after being spotted within blocks of the former president's home.
Taranto attempted to run towards Obama's house in the city's Kalorama district but was detained before getting there. He has been charged as a fugitive from justice, according to Washington police, who also stated that he was detained on the basis of an active arrest warrant, but they did not explain what the warrant was for. Officials even found weapons and the materials to make some kind of explosive device similar to a Molotov cocktail inside his van, which was parked near where he was arrested, according to CBS. Taranto claimed that he had explosives, but first responders only found the unassembled materials to make them.
Who is Taylor Taranto?
According to many media reports, Taranto has been identified as a right-wing radical who was reportedly involved in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. A senior law enforcement official told CBS that Taranto had spent a few months in the Washington, DC region. He was even seen camping out in his van near the jail, where many of the January 6 defendants are being held. NBC News states that he has repeatedly questioned in his online posts why he had not yet been arrested over January 6. Previously Taranto even posted a video of himself inside the Capitol during the riot. The media outlet also states that he has been using Telegram to disseminate conspiracies about the Obama residence.
Earlier on Thursday, a Truth Social account that goes by the same screen name that Taranto uses on other social media accounts re-posted a tweet from Trump that purportedly contained the address of Obama's house in Washington, DC, as well as information about the house's proximity to a mosque. “Got them surrounded!” the Truth Social account wrote. US officials earlier revealed that Taranto got their attention after he made several threats during recent live streams on social media against a public figure. “There is no active threat to the community and this incident remains under investigation,” the Metropolitan Police Department said in an official statement.
Why Taylor Taranto was sued in 2021
Taranto is also a defendant in a civil suit filed by the widow of MPD officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide in the days following the January 6 attack. Erin Smith filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Taranto in late 2021, alleging that his actions contributed to her husband’s death. According to the lawsuit, Taranto supplied a cane or crowbar to another rioter who then allegedly used it to assault Smith during the Capitol riot. In court filings related to the ongoing suit, Taranto admitted to being inside the Capitol during the attack but denied any wrongdoing. In court records, Taranto admitted to entering the Capitol that day, but he said that he was doing it in his capacity as a "press agent" covering left-wing protestors.
