Accused Jan 6 rioter arrested near Obama’s home after making threats towards ‘public figure’

A shocking scene played out in the wealthy Washington DC neighborhood of Kalorama on Thursday as a man was chased by police and Secret Service while he ran towards the home of former President Barack Obama — and as the man warned authorities that he had an explosive device.

According to the DC Metropolitan Police Department, 37-year-old Taylor Taranto was arrested near Mr Obama’s home on Thursday. CBS News reported that he fled after being spotted by Secret Service, who had apparently been alerted to his intentions after Mr Taranto made “threats during recent livestreams on social media”.

Mr Taranto had an active arrest warrant related to the attack on the Capitol when he was captured near the former president’s home, according to CBS. DC police confirmed to The Independent that Mr Taranto had been charged with being a fugitive from justice pursuant to another arrest warrant, and that officers had conducted an explosives sweep of his vehicle.

“This afternoon, MPD and our federal law enforcement partners arrested 37-year-old Taylor Taranto, of no fixed address, in the 2400 block of Kalorama Road, Northwest. He has been charged with Fugitive from Justice, pursuant to an arrest warrant. Arresting officers requested MPD's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to perform a vehicle sweep of the individual's van near the location of the arrest. There is no active threat to the community and this incident remains under investigation,” wrote an MPD spokesperson.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Mr Obama or any members of his family were home at the time of the incident. The former president was in DC just two days ago for lunch with his former VP, incumbent President Joe Biden, as the latter begins the long work of running for re-election.

The Independent has reached out to US Secret Service for further details.