07/05/2023

Jan. 6 Defendant Who Cased Obama’s Neighborhood Made Week-long Series of Threats

The suspect had been living out of a van for two months prior to his arrest

A man arrested last week for breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6 drove a van full of weapons to Barack Obama's neighborhood before his June 30 arrest, appearing to target the former president's home after a Truth Social post from Donald Trump that identified the Obama family’s Kalorama address, prosecutors say.

"[Taylor] Taranto used his own Truth Social account to re-post the address," prosecutors wrote in court papers filed Wednesday. "On Telegram, Taranto then stated, 'We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's.' Shortly thereafter, Taranto again began livestreaming from his van on his YouTube channel. This time, Taranto was driving through the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C."

Taylor Taranto's June 29 arrest — after a foot pursuit near Rock Creek Parkway — capped a week-long period in which his erratic and menacing behavior escalated the urgency from law enforcement to find him. It was only after he entered Obama’s Secret Service-protected neighborhood that officials were able to track his movements closely. Taranto, speaking on a livestream, discussed finding an entrance to the Obamas’ home via the sewers.

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