Reports surfaced that law enforcement officials arrested a man — with an active warrant related to the events of January 6 — who was caught carrying materials to make explosives in the neighborhood of former President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.
Law enforcement officials have identified the suspect as Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old resident of Seattle, Washington. According to sources, the Secret Service spotted him blocks away from the Obama residence and pursued him after he began to flee.
Taranto was running towards the Obama home but was apprehended by the Secret Service before reaching it.
Taranto had parked his van close to where he was arrested.
According to officials with details of the incident, in the van, there were several weapons and materials to make a Molotov cocktail-like explosive device, but it was not assembled, according to officials familiar with the details.
Taranto claimed he had explosives, yet first responders only found the materials to assemble them.
U.S. officials had become concerned by Taranto’s recent threats made in several recent live streams on social media against the former President.
The attacker also had an open warrant on charges related to January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, with a U.S. official suggesting that he wasn’t in Obama’s neighborhood by mistake.
A senior law enforcement official also revealed that Taranto had resided in the Washington, D.C., area for a few months.
The Seattle resident had been seen camping in his van close to the D.C. jail, where many of the January 6 defendants are being held, with some of his live streams seemingly carried out while he was in the D.C. area.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department is charged with being a fugitive from justice.
