Judge says he's 'very concerned' about Jan. 6 defendant's danger — and might have to let him go

WASHINGTON — A federal magistrate judge said he was “very concerned” about the potential danger posed by a Jan. 6 defendant arrested last week with guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition near former President Barack Obama’s home – but that his ability to detain him might be hamstrung by the fact prosecutors have so far only brought misdemeanor charges against him.

Taylor Taranto, 37, of Seattle, was arrested Thursday in D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood on a warrant for charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. According to a detention memo filed Wednesday by the Justice Department, Secret Service agents spotted him acting strangely near the Obama family’s D.C. home and arrested him after he attempted to flee. A search of Taranto’s van subsequently turned up two firearms, four hundred rounds of ammunition and a machete. Earlier in the day, prosecutors said, Taranto had re-posted the Obama family’s address on his Truth Social account after former President Donald Trump shared it on his social media site.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Ethen described the arrest as the culmination of weeks of erratic and threatening behavior by Taranto – a U.S. Navy veteran who traveled to D.C. two months ago following what he perceived as an invitation from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to view unreleased footage of the Capitol riot. Prior to his arrest, Taranto had been living in his van near the D.C. jail and participating in nightly vigils organized by Jan. 6 supporters. An organizer of that vigil told WUSA9 he had recently been asked to leave after he claimed Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was fatally shot while attempting to climb through a window into the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, was still alive.

According to prosecutors, during his time in D.C. Taranto had made “ominous comments” toward McCarthy and had livestreamed himself inside an elementary school in Takoma Park, Maryland, he believed was near the home of Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD).

“I didn’t tell anyone where he lives ‘cause I want him all to myself,” Taranto reportedly said on the video.

On June 28, a day before his arrest, prosecutors said Taranto again livestreamed himself and claimed he intended to blow up his van at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which houses a nuclear reactor. According to prosecutors, Taranto made claimed he had a detonator and was on a “one way mission.”

A day later, Taranto once again livestreamed himself – this time near the Obama family’s D.C. home. In the video, prosecutors said, he claimed he was looking for “entrance points” and that he was trying to get a “good angle on a shot.”

Despite the serious allegations in the government’s detention memo, however, to date Taranto has been charged only with four misdemeanor counts alleging he unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol more than two years ago. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui said that left his hands tied in deciding whether to grant the DOJ’s request to detain Taranto, because he believed he could only do so if he found him to be a flight risk. Faruqui suggested Wednesday he didn’t view Taranto as such.

“I’m sure you can appreciate I’m very concerned about danger,” Faruqui said. “I’m much less concerned about flight risk.”

Taranto’s attorney, assistant federal public defender Kathryn Guevara, argued prosecutors had cherry-picked statements out of context in an effort to criminalize First Amendment protected speech. She described Taranto as a Navy veteran who’d deployed to Iraq and who had for some time been in treatment for what he believed was PTSD through the VA. She also pointed out Taranto had done little to hide his presence in D.C. for months – and had even been inside the D.C. District Courthouse three weeks prior for the sentencing of another Jan. 6 defendant who is named along with Taranto in a civil suit brought by the widow of DC Police Officer Jeffrey Smith.

“Mr. Taranto has remained in plain sight,” Guevara said. “I am confident if law enforcement was monitoring him with the degree of concern they now claim to have they could have found him.”

Taranto’s wife flew in from Washington to testify on his behalf if needed. Faruqui initially intended to question her about her willingness to be his court-appointed custodian, but deferred that until the hearing could pick back up Thursday morning.

Faruqui said he wanted more time to think about the government’s request before making a decision, but suggested absent felony charges or compelling evidence Taranto was a flight risk he was inclined to release him to the custody of his wife.

“At some point, defense counsel is right: It is a four-misdemeanor case for conduct that occurred two years out,” he said.

Faruqui ordered the parties to return to court Thursday at 11 a.m. to continue arguments.