On June 29th, an armed man with guns, material to make an explosive device, and a machete in his van was arrested in the Kalorama neighborhood near former President Barack Obama's D.C. house. Turns out, on the same day, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump had broadcast what he claimed was Obama's address on his social media platform, and the inspired gentleman in question had read and reposted it.
"We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's," 37-year-old Taylor Taranto then allegedly posted on Telegram, according to AP News. He also said in a YouTube live stream that he was on the lookout for "entrance points" and a "good angle on a shot." A loyal Trumpist, Taranto had been accused of participating in the Trump-fueled Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, according to AP News, and was already wanted by the FBI before his arrest last week.
From AP:
Taylor Taranto, 37, who prosecutors say participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, kept two firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside a van he had driven cross-country and had been living in, according to a Justice Department motion that seeks to keep him behind bars. …
His wife told investigators that he had come to Washington this time because of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's offer earlier this year to produce unseen video of the Jan. 6 attack, the federal detention memo states. Taranto already faces four misdemeanor counts related to the Capitol assault, when prosecutors say he joined the crush of rioters who broke into the building and made his way to the entrance of the Speaker's Lobby outside the House chamber.
The FBI had been monitoring Taranto's online activities because of his involvement in the riot, and began searching for him last Wednesday after he asserted on his YouTube livestream that he was in Gaithersburg, Maryland on a "one-way mission" and intended to blow up the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The following day, he continued his live stream from the Washington neighborhood where Obama lives — an area heavily monitored by the U.S. Secret Service — and said that he was looking for "entrance points" and wanted to get a "good angle on a shot," according to the Justice Department's detention memo. Officials said he was spotted by law enforcement a few blocks from the former president's home and fled, though he was chased by Secret Service officers.
And from The Hill:
Taranto "made it clear that he intended to access or enter the private residences of his subjects," as he focused his camera several sewer grates that he described as "entrance points," the court filing noted.
Secret Service in the area monitored Taranto during his excursion through the neighborhood and apprehended him after he attempted to flee when they approached.
"Unlike many other January 6 misdemeanor defendants, Taranto, acting on the same impulses that drove his actions on January 6, 2021, has continued to pursue the objectives of the riot while making numerous and varied threats at the same time he possessed firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a machete," prosecutors said in Wednesday's filing.
