A man with explosives-making materials and an active warrant related to Jan. 6 was arrested by law enforcement in former President Barack Obama’s Washington, D.C., neighborhood, multiple sources told CBS News. on the matter
Multiple sources identified the suspect as Taylor Taranto, 37, of Seattle, Washington. The Secret Service spotted him a few blocks from Obama’s home, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter. Taranto fled and the Secret Service chased him. He was running to Obama’s house, but was arrested before he got there.
Taranto’s van was parked near where he was arrested. Several weapons and the materials to make some kind of explosive device similar to a Molotov cocktail were there, but it had not been assembled, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the details. He had said he had explosives, but first responders found only the materials to make them.
US officials were concerned that Taranto had made threats during recent live streams on social media against a public figure. He also had an open warrant for charges related to him January 6, 2021 Assault on the United States Capitol. It was not in Obama’s neighborhood by mistake, a US official said.
According to a senior law enforcement official, Taranto had been in the Washington, DC area for a couple of months. He had been seen camping in his van near the D.C. jail where many of the Jan. 6 defendants are being held, and some of his live streams while he was in the D.C. area were apparently released.
Taranto has been accused of being a fugitive from justice, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
The incident did not result in any injuries. It’s unclear if the Obamas were home at the time.
Nick Kurtz and Robert Legare contributed to this report.
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