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WASHINGTON — A conspiracy-minded Donald Trump supporter who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested Thursday near the home of former President Barack Obama, a law enforcement official told NBC News.
Taylor Taranto, 37, who was identified by online sleuths in August 2021 and is facing a lawsuit from the widow of a Metropolitan Police Department officer who died by suicide, recently showed up at the sentencing of David Walls-Kaufman, his co-defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses both men of being involved in an assault on MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith on Jan. 6, which they have both denied.
While Walls-Kaufman was arrested last year and has already been sentenced, Taylor had not been charged.
In recent weeks, Taranto has been living in a van near the D.C. jailhouse, according to his social media, and has repeatedly wondered in online posts why he had not yet been arrested over Jan. 6. Taranto also posted a video of himself on YouTube inside the Capitol during the riot.
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement Taranto had been arrested under an outstanding arrest warrant, though the department did not specify what the warrant was for, and that he has been charged as a fugitive from justice. Officers on the scene had the explosives disposal team sweep his van near where he was arrested, the department said, adding that there is no active threat to the community.
Earlier Thursday, a Truth Social account that uses the same screen name that Taranto uses on other social media accounts, re-posted a Trump post that included what is alleged to be the address of Obama’s home in Washington and noted that the home is located near a mosque. “Got them surrounded!” the Truth Social account wrote.
NBC News has also been reviewing Taranto’s Telegram account. His last post was a link to a website touting conspiracy theories about the Obama’s home.
It was not immediately clear when Taranto would make a court appearance.
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