Taylor Taranto — a Trump supporter with a Jan. 6 warrant was recently arrested near former President Barack Obama’s home with guns and bomb materials.
Taranto was arrested Thursday on charges related to being a fugitive over that January 6 warrant but was also found to have multiple firearms and materials for making a Molotov cocktail. From CNN:
A man with numerous firearms and materials to make an explosive was arrested Thursday in former President Barack Obama’s Washington, DC, neighborhood after claiming on an internet livestream that he had a detonator, law enforcement officials told CNN.
Taylor Taranto, who had an open warrant for his arrest related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement. He has been charged with being a fugitive from justice.
“Arresting officers requested MPD’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to perform a vehicle sweep of the individual’s van near the location of the arrest,” the MPD said in a statement to CNN. “There is no active threat to the community and this incident remains under investigation.”
According to law enforcement officials, firearms and materials to make Molotov cocktails were found in Taranto’s car. There is currently no indication of a direct threat to the Obamas, law enforcement officials told CNN.
On Friday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, correspondent Gabe Cohen gave anchor Poppy Harlow some of the details:
POPPY HARLOW: Washington Metro police have arrested a man with numerous firearms and materials to make an explosive that arrested just blocks from former President Obama’s home. Officials say Taylor Taranto had an arrest warrant related to the January 6 Capitol attack. They say he also made threats on an Internet livestream, Gabe Cohen joins us live from Washington. Gabe, good morning. What do we know?
GABE COHEN: Yes, so, Poppy, police have arrested and charged Taylor Taranto with at least being a fugitive from justice because of that open warrant that you mentioned related to the January 6th attack at the Capitol. And it’s really hard to say how close he was to doing damage here. But the FBI’s joint terrorism task force is now investigating, and the details here are really disturbing. Police say Taranto was in a van in former President Obama’s D.C. neighborhood with guns and material to make a molotov cocktail after making claims on an Internet live stream that he had a detonator.
And Capitol Police quickly got involved yesterday, they said because of not just concern for public safety, but also the potential for violence against members of Congress. And that arsenal was enough that police requested an explosive disposal team to actually sweep Toronto’s van at the scene. Although law enforcement officials told CNN there is no indication of a direct threat to the Obamas and a spokesperson for the family declined to comment on whether or not they were even home.
But Poppy Taranto is active on YouTube. You can see one of those videos on your screen right now, that video posted showing him inside the Capitol on January 6. And we also know that yesterday morning before the arrest, a Truth Social account with the same username as Taranto’s YouTube page reposted a post from former President Donald Trump that included the purported D.C. address of the Obamas. And the repost that you can see on your screen reads, quote, Got them surrounded. Now, of course, Poppy, there’s the question of motive, which we don’t know, something investigators are digging into.
