From NBC News
A Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol wearing a “Make Space Great Again” hat had two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested Thursday near former President Barack Obama’s home, federal authorities said Friday.
A federal prosecutor said in court Friday that Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old man first identified by online sleuths in August 2021, also had a machete in the van he appeared to be living in. Taranto's van has been parked near the D.C. jail in recent weeks and he has appeared at protests in support of other Jan. 6 defendants, videos on social media show. Noting that he lived in the van, a federal prosecutor said Taranto had “nowhere to go.”
Taranto currently faces four misdemeanor counts in connection with Jan. 6, the federal prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said that Taranto has been in Washington to take House Speaker Kevin McCarthy up on his offer of letting Jan. 6 defendants review security footage of the Capitol riot relevant to their cases. Taranto had posted recordings of phone calls he made trying to get access to the footage to his social media.
Taranto has acknowledged entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 in social media posts and questioned why authorities had not arrested him. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taranto showed up at Obama's residence on Thursday after former President Donald Trump posted screenshots on his Truth Social platform that featured a purported address for Obama's home in Washington. Taranto's account reposted Trump's post.
"We got these losers surrounded!" Taranto wrote on Telegram yesterday. "See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's!"
Taranto will be held in custody at least until a detention hearing on Wednesday. Federal Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey said Friday he had "some concern" about Taranto's mental stability.
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