Capitol riot participant arrested with weapons near former President Obama's home

WASHINGTON — A Washington state man who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was arrested Thursday near the D.C. home of former President Barack Obama, according to law enforcement officials.

Taylor Taranto, 37, of Seattle, was taken into custody on a preliminary charge of being a fugitive from justice pursuant to an arrest warrant stemming from his alleged participation in the riot, DC Police officials told WUSA9. Arresting officers requested an explosive ordnance disposal team sweep the van where Taranto was reportedly living. CBS News reported officers found multiple weapons and materials that could potentially be used to construct an explosive device inside the vehicle.

Taranto, who has not been publicly charged in connection with the riot, has uploaded videos to his YouTube page purporting to show him inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 near the Speaker's Lobby where Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot. He had also uploaded videos about the nightly vigils outside the D.C. Jail in support of detained Jan. 6 defendants, which he had reportedly participated in over the past several weeks until he was recently asked to leave.

“He was asked not to come back to the vigil after he did an interview saying he believed Ashli was not really dead,” Nicole Reffitt, a vigil organizer and the wife of convicted Jan. 6 defendant Guy Reffitt, told WUSA9.

In addition to his arrest on an outstanding warrant, Taranto had recently made social media threats toward a public figure, according to a report by the Associated Press.