A former Jan. 6 defendant who was arrested after displaying up on the house of former President Barack Obama in 2023 was convicted Tuesday of unlawful possession of weapons and ammunition.
Taylor Taranto, who was apprehended whereas livestreaming video close to Obama’s home in Washington, D.C., was additionally discovered responsible of a false info and hoaxes cost associated to a video he streamed a day earlier claiming he was on a “a method mission” to explode the Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Expertise in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
U.S. District Choose Carl Nichols dominated on the case following a bench trial that acquired underway final week.
Taranto’s legal professional, Carmen Hernandez, blasted the decision.
“I believe it’s a horrible final result underneath a statute that’s over broad and violates the First Modification,” Hernandez informed NBC Information. “Mr. Taranto is an honorably discharged, disabled veteran with no prior convictions, no historical past of violent conduct. He’s been convicted of getting made a foul joke with completely no proof that he supposed to hold out any felony conduct.”
Taranto had posted about showing exterior Obama’s residence the identical day in June 2023 that Trump shared a screenshot on social media that included what he mentioned was Obama’s Washington deal with. Prosecutors mentioned Taranto reposted what Trump had shared, after which posted about being exterior of the previous president’s house, writing, “We acquired these losers surrounded!”
Investigators mentioned they discovered two weapons and a whole lot of rounds of ammunition in Taranto’s van, together with a machete, when he was arrested. Prosecutors alleged that Taranto repeatedly mentioned that he was making an attempt to get a “shot” and that he needed to get a “good angle on a shot.”
Taranto was first recognized by on-line sleuths as a Jan. 6 participant in 2021. He was one of many roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump on the primary day of his second time period in workplace.
