Latest news with #Taake
The Independent
07-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Newly-pardoned Jan 6 rioter rearrested on child solicitation charges
A freshly pardoned January 6 rioter who was granted freedom days into President Donald Trump's second term has been rearrested for outstanding child sex crimes. Andrew Taake, 36, was taken into custody on Thursday morning for a 2016 charge of online solicitation of a minor following an ongoing surveillance operation led by Harris County authorities, which confirmed he had been living in Leon County in Texas, around two hours north of Houston. The alleged incident occurred in 2016 and involved Taake sending sexually explicit messages to an undercover law enforcement agent posing as a 15-year-old girl, reports The Texas Tribune. At the time of the Capitol riot, Taake was out on a $20,000 bail in relation to the arrest. Since taking office, Donald Trump initiated the mass pardon of 1,500 January 6 rioters, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — a move that has reinvigorated some of the president's more adamant supporters. Taake, assaulted officers on that deadly day in Capitol Hill, using bear spray and a metal whip — behavior he was caught bragging to another woman about on a dating app, court records seen by The Texas Tribune showed. Infamously, Taake was arrested when dating app messages between him another woman in which he bragged about his role in the riot were revealed. Days later, he was turned in to law enforcement. Taake received a six-year sentence in June 2024 after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers at the Capitol in 2021. However, when Trump issued the sweep pardon, he was released from federal custody in Florence, Colorado, despite an insistence from authorities to hold him because of the pending warrant associated with the minor, said the Harris County District Attorney. The Bureau of Prisons informed the Harris County D.A. that they needed 'a certified warrant to prevent Taake's release' and a copy of that warrant was faxed on January 15 this year, but Taake was released five days later, as per Trump's request. 'Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending State warrants, will require significant resources. Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for a 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online', the district attorney previously stated on January 27. His bond in Harris County was revoked and law enforcement is reported to be working closely with Leon County authorities to ensure he is transferred to the Harris County Jail. The Independent contacted the Harris County District Attorney's Office for information.
USA Today
07-02-2025
- USA Today
'Suspected child predator' that was pardoned by Trump was arrested in Texas
A "suspected child predator" pardoned by President Donald Trump after being convicted of assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was arrested Thursday on a charge of online solicitation of a minor. Andrew Taake, 36, of Houston, had been wanted on an outstanding warrant for the May 2016 felony charge, The Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed on social media. According to a statement from District Attorney Sean Teare, the 11:30 a.m. arrest took place after surveillance conducted Tuesday confirmed Taake was staying at a home in Leon County, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. 'We would like to thank the coordinated efforts of our office's Fugitive Apprehension Section, Leon County Sheriff's Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety for their diligence in getting this suspected child predator back into custody,' Teare said. County officials previously requested Taake remain in custody on outstanding warrant Last month, on the first day of his second term, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, including Taake. Before Taake's Jan. 20 release from Florence, Colorado where he was serving a sentence for his role in the Capitol riot, a member of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Warrants Division requested federal authorities hold Taake, due to his pending warrant in Harris County at the time, Teare's office said. "That request was filed back in 2022," the office wrote in a Jan. 27 news release. "The Bureau of Prisons informed our office they must have a certified warrant to prevent Taake's release. Although a clerk faxed a copy of that warrant on January 15, Taake was released five days later, in accordance with President Trump's pardon order." Fatal plane crash:US service member, 3 contractors killed when surveillance aircraft crashes in Philippines Who is Andrew Taake? Before Trump pardoned him last month, Taake had been serving a more than six-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in connection to his role in the insurrection, according to United States District Court for the District of Columbia court documents obtained by USA TODAY. Prior to his conviction, the FBI received a tip about Taake's participation in the riot from someone he matched with on the dating app Bumble, according to a criminal complaint filed July 23. Screenshots of the conversation show Taake sharing pictures of him at the riot, captioned 'About 30 minutes after being sprayed,' the document said. Andrew Taake jailed without bond awaiting extradition On Friday morning, a Leon County Sheriff's Office deputy told USA TODAY Taake remained jailed without bond, awaiting extradition to Harris County. It was not immediately known whether he had obtained an attorney in the case. According to the DA's release, the Harris County Sheriff's Office will work with Leon County authorities to transfer Taake to the Harris County jail, where he will also remain without a bond as he awaits trial. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
The Guardian
07-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Pardoned January 6 rioter on run from solicitation of minor charge arrested
Authorities in Texas have captured a convicted US Capitol attacker who was pardoned by Donald Trump at the start of his second presidency and then went on the run from unrelated, unresolved charges of having solicited a minor. Andrew Taake, 36, was arrested on Thursday in Leon county in connection with charges filed about 120 miles away in Houston before the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack, according to a statement from prosecutors. Taake assailed police with bear spray and a metal whip on the day he and other Trump supporters descended on Congress in a desperate attempt to keep him in the Oval Office despite losing the presidency to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to prosecutors. While chatting with a woman on the dating app Bumble, Taake bragged about those crimes and was arrested in July 2021 after she reported him to the FBI. Taake pleaded guilty in federal to assaulting police with a dangerous weapon and received a sentence that would have left him in prison until 2027 as well as on supervised released until 2030. Nonetheless, federal prison records show that Taake was released from a correctional center in Fort Worth, Texas, on 20 January, when Trump retook the White House after winning November's election against Biden's vice-president, Kamala Harris. Taake was among 1,500 people who were charged or convicted in the Capitol insurrection and controversially received blanket pardons or commutations upon Trump's return to power. But the president's clemency did not bring all of Taake's legal problems to an end, as has been the case for other pardoned Capitol attackers. Court documents show that state prosecutors in Houston charged Taake in 2016 with going online and soliciting a person he thought was 'younger than 17 years of age' while anticipating the contact would culminate in a sexual encounter. Taake – then 27 – would have committed child molestation or worse had such an encounter occurred, and he was charged with a third-degree felony carrying up to 10 years in prison. Houston criminal court records show that case pending when Taake, while out on $20,000 bail, took part in the Capitol attack. According to the Houston Chronicle, he was considered a fugitive wanted on that charge after his pardon-triggered release from federal prison. The Harris county district attorney's office in Houston said on Thursday that 'a surveillance operation' conducted on 4 February confirmed Taake was staying at a home in Leon. Members of the Harris district attorney's fugitive apprehension section then worked with local and state officials in Leon to arrest Taake, whom prosecutors' statement described as 'a suspected child predator'. His bail in Harris has been revoked as officials work to transfer him there from Leon's jail. Taake is one of a number of pardoned Capitol attackers who have made headlines over unrelated brushes with the law. Another was recently handed a 10-year prison sentence for killing a woman in a drunk-driving crash. And police in Indiana shot yet another pardoned Capitol attacker to death during a traffic stop.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Man pardoned in Jan. 6 case arrested on 2016 solicitation charge
Texas authorities arrested a Jan. 6 rioter recently pardoned by President Trump on Thursday for online solicitation of a minor. The Harris County district attorney's office said it took Andrew Taake into custody Thursday morning for the May 2016 charges, according to a post to the social media platform X. 'Taake was arrested after a surveillance operation conducted on February 4th confirmed Taake was staying at a residence in Leon County. Taake's bond in Harris County has been revoked,' the office added, noting it is working with local authorities to transfer him to a Harris County jail. Taake is accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with a person he knew to be younger than 17 while using an online messaging platform. The case was still pending when he was arrested by the FBI following the 2021 Capitol insurrection. He was turned into the police just days after the riot by an individual who communicated with him on the dating app Bumble while he was in Washington, D.C. Taake was sentenced to six years in prison last June after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers with bear spray during the riot at the Capitol. He was released from federal custody in Florence, Colo., on Jan. 20 despite the county's request for federal authorities to hold him. 'Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending State warrants, will require significant resources,' Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement at the time. 'Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for [the] 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Houston man pardoned by Trump arrested on child sex charge
A Houston man who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has been arrested on an outstanding child sex crimes charge. Andrew Taake, 36, was taken into custody on Thursday after spending more than two weeks as a fugitive, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said. He had previously been charged with online solicitation of a minor stemming from a 2016 incident in which he allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl. Taake was among the roughly 1,600 people, including 120 Texans, who were charged for their roles in the U.S. Capitol riot, which ultimately resulted in five deaths, injuries to 140 police officers, at least $2.8 million in damage and roughly 1,575 federal criminal cases. Federal prosecutors said Taake used bear spray and a metal whip to assault officers, and that he was caught after bragging about the incident to a woman he met on an online dating app. Screenshots of his messages to the woman, who later alerted law enforcement, show that he sent a selfie of himself to the woman that he said was taken 'about 30 minutes' after the incident, according to court records. In June, he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in 2023, but was released from federal prison in Colorado following Trump's sweeping Jan. 20 pardon of those charged for partaking in the melee. Taake's release was condemned by Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, who said that his office had faxed a copy of Taake's outstanding warrant to the Federal Bureau of Prisons five days before he was pardoned. After about two weeks on the lam, Taake was located and arrested at a residence in Leon County, Texas, the Harris County DA said Thursday. Trump has referred to Jan. 6 defendants as 'patriots' and 'hostages,' and said his mass pardon ends a 'grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people.' He and other Republicans have sought to frame the riot as a peaceful protest, and those charged for their roles in it as political prisoners. But many — including at least 37 Texans — were charged with assault or other violent crimes. Others were members of extremist groups or militias, including Stewart Rhodes, the former Granbury resident and leader of the OathKeepers militia who was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of seditious conspiracy. Dozens more, including Taake, had prior convictions or pending charges for crimes such as rape, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence or production of child sexual abuse material, NPR reported last month. Of the nearly 1,575 people charged in the riot, two-thirds pleaded guilty and roughly 250 were convicted by a judge or jury, according to NPR. Only four defendants were acquitted of all charges, and fourteen had their cases dismissed. Texans played key roles in the insurrection. They helped craft Trump's attempts to overturn election results and were crucial to mainstreaming baseless election fraud conspiracies. On Jan. 6, a Texan was the first person to break into the Capitol, and Texas lawmakers have been among the loudest defenders of the riot and those involved in it.
