Detention Requested for Man Arrested With Guns Near Obama’s Home
WASHINGTON — A federal judge is considering releasing a man from jail who was arrested last week near former President Barack Obama’s home with two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui told prosecutors on Thursday they need to come up with more serious charges for Taylor Taranto, who also is a defendant in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
“The charges here don’t reflect the conduct,” Faruqui said.
Taranto is charged with misdemeanors that are unrelated to threats against Obama and at least one member of Congress that he posted on social media.
Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to keep Taranto jailed pending trial rather than to release him on bond. They cited his “erratic” and “threatening” statements on YouTube videos and on livestreams.
Faruqui agreed Taranto’s words and actions created concerns about violence but with only misdemeanors pending against him, the judge could order him detained only if he represented a flight risk.
Prosecutors said after the hearing Thursday they plan to file felony charges against Taranto but did not specify which ones. Taranto’s next detention hearing is scheduled for July 12.
A memo prosecutors submitted in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia revealed new details of the man’s alleged plot, such as a plan to blow up his stockpile of weapons at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency within the Commerce Department headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. There is a nuclear reactor on the agency’s campus.
“He made several statements indicating that he intended to blow up his vehicle at NIST, including a statement that he had a detonator, that he was on a ‘one way mission,’ and that the vehicle was self-driving so he would not have to be anywhere near it when it ‘went off,'” says the memo.
Taranto already was wanted on a warrant as a defendant in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Video shows him entering the building.
Secret Service agents were alerted to his potential dangers a week before his June 29 arrest after he posted Obama’s home address on his Truth Social account. He had republished it after former President Donald Trump posted the address first on the conservative social media site.
The Secret Service and FBI began tracking Taranto after he entered the Obamas’ neighborhood in his van.
“On Telegram, Taranto then stated, ‘We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s,’” the prosecutors’ memo says. Podesta apparently refers to former Obama administration advisor John Podesta.
Shortly afterward, Taranto allegedly livestreamed on YouTube from the Kalorama neighborhood, saying he was looking for a way to enter the Obamas’ home. He also implied that Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland might be another one of his targets, according to prosecutors.
In one video he posted, Taranto said he would not reveal Raskin’s home address, saying, “I didn’t tell anyone where he lives ’cause I want him all to myself.”
He was arrested after a foot chase in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. A search of his van revealed “hundreds of rounds of nine-millimeter ammunition, a steering wheel lock and a machete,” prosecutors wrote.
In asking the judge to keep him detained, they wrote, “Given the depth of his anti-government beliefs, and his broadcasted threats against political figures and government property, it is difficult to imagine that he will be capable of compliance with conditions to secure community safety and ensure his appearance before this court.”
Taranto, 37, has not yet entered a plea in the case. He is represented by a public defender who suggested custody alternatives, such as staying with his family in Washington state.
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