A Jan. 6 defendant, Taylor Taranto, who was arrested near the Washington home of former President Barack Obama last summer after former President Donald Trump posted a screenshot that included the address, has been hit with five new charges.
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Taranto, who was first identified by online sleuths in 2021 but wasn’t arrested until June 2022 when he showed up near Obama’s home.
Three of the new charges relate to guns and ammunition alleged to have been found in Taranto’s van when he was arrested.
He also faces a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding for his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, and a charge of false information and hoaxes for falsely threatening to set off an explosive at the National Institute of Standards and Technology before his arrest.
Defendant (Credits: X.com)
Before his arrest, Taranto and another man, David Walls-Kaufman, were sued by the widow of the late Officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide days after the Capitol attack.
The civil wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Taranto and Walls-Kaufman contributed to Smith’s death. Taranto was seen in multiple videos carrying a weaponized cane near Smith during a scuffle between officers and rioters.
Smith’s body-worn camera video, released as a result of the lawsuit, also shows an incident in which Smith was hit with a flying metal object hours after he was near Walls-Kaufman and Taranto inside the Capitol.
Taranto appeared at Walls-Kaufman’s sentencing on Jan. 6 charges in Washington last June, the month he was arrested outside the Obama residence.
Walls-Kaufman, who was not charged with assault but admitted he “scuffled” with officers, was sentenced to 60 days in federal prison and was released in September. The civil suit against both men is still pending.
