Who is Taylor Taranto, 37-year-old with weapons and January 6 warrant arrested after running toward Obamas’ D.C. home

A man with materials to make explosives and an active Jan. 6-related warrant was arrested by law enforcement in former President Barack Obama’s Washington, D.C., neighborhood.

The suspect has been identified as Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old Seattle, Washington resident. According to a law enforcement official briefed on the situation, the Secret Service discovered him just a few blocks away from the Obamas’ residence. When Taranto rushed away, the Secret Service pursued him. Before getting to the Obama residence, he was stopped as he was sprinting toward it.

Taranto’s van was parked close to where he was arrested. According to law enforcement officials familiar with the situation, there were several guns and the components needed to create an explosive device similar to a Molotov cocktail. Although he claimed to have explosives, first responders only discovered the raw materials.

U.S. officials were worried because Taranto had recently threatened to harm a well-known person during social media livestreams. Additionally, he was wanted on suspicion of crimes connected to the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He wasn’t unintentionally in Obama’s neighborhood, a U.S. official said.

Taranto had spent a few months in the Washington, D.C., region, according to a senior law enforcement official. Many of the Jan. 6 defendants are being held in the D.C. jail, and he was spotted camped out in his van there. Additionally, some of his livestreams appeared to have been published while he was in the D.C. region.

Taranto has been charged with being a fugitive from justice, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. 

The incident did not result in any injuries. It’s unclear if the Obamas were home at the time.