Former Jan. 6 defendant who was arrested near Obama's house is convicted on gun charges
A former Jan. 6 defendant who was arrested after showing up at the home of former President Barack Obama in 2023 was convicted Tuesday of illegal possession of guns and ammunition.
Taylor Taranto, who was apprehended while livestreaming video near Obama's house in Washington, D.C., was also found guilty of a false information and hoaxes charge related to a video he streamed a day earlier claiming he was on a 'one way mission' to blow up the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ruled on the case following a bench trial that got underway last week.
Taranto's attorney, Carmen Hernandez, blasted the verdict.
'I think it's a terrible outcome under a statute that is over broad and violates the First Amendment,' Hernandez told NBC News. 'Mr. Taranto is an honorably discharged, disabled veteran with no prior convictions, no history of violent conduct. He's been convicted of having made a bad joke with absolutely no evidence that he intended to carry out any criminal conduct.'
Taranto had posted about appearing outside Obama's residence the same day in June 2023 that Trump shared a screenshot on social media that included what he said was Obama's Washington address. Prosecutors said Taranto reposted what Trump had shared, and then posted about being outside of the former president's home, writing, 'We got these losers surrounded!'
Investigators said they found two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Taranto's van, along with a machete, when he was arrested. Prosecutors alleged that Taranto repeatedly said that he was attempting to get a 'shot' and that he wanted to get a 'good angle on a shot.'
Taranto was first identified by online sleuths as a Jan. 6 participant in 2021. He was one of the roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in office.
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