Tri-Cities Jan. 6 inmate who threatened to bomb fed building with van faces new charges

A Tri-Cities man who has been accused of a string of threats against lawmakers, including a former president, has been hit with a slew of new charges.

Taylor Taranto, the armed Tri-Cities man arrested outside of former President Barack Obama’s D.C. home last summer has been indicted on new charges related to the incident, threats to bomb federal buildings and his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Taranto, 38, of Pasco, has been in the D.C. Metropolitan Jail since last July when he was arrested while allegedly attempting to scout access points to the Obamas’ Kalorama neighborhood home. His arrest came after an alleged series of threats to bomb a federal building and attempts to intimidate lawmakers over the handling of the Jan. 6 Committee.

Federal investigators found multiple weapons in Taranto’s van. Now it appears he’s facing additional charges in connection with those weapons, the threats to use his van as a bomb and his role in the Jan. 6 riots.

New documents filed in D.C. District court Wednesday show Taranto has now been indicted on a total of 16 charges. Some of those charges are “aggravators” or enhancements to an existing charge because Vice President Mike Pence was present. The new charges are part of a superseding indictment, which means they were added as new information came to light.

In all there are five new charges. Three for weapons, one for bomb threats and the last is a felony charge added to his list of Jan. 6 charges.

Federal prosecutors say that Taranto was not the legal registered owner of a semi-automatic 9 mm Scorpion CZ short barrel rifle and was also in possession of an illegal high capacity magazine. He was also charged for illegally carrying the weapon and a pistol without a license.

High capacity magazines were banned in March 2022 in Washington state, and the ban was upheld by a federal appeals court last year. They have been banned in D.C. since 2008.

Taranto was documented traveling between D.C. and the Tri-Cities for various protests for much of the two and a half years following the Jan. 6 riots.

He has also been charged with false information and hoaxes for threatening to use his van to blow up a federal building on a livestream in the days before his arrest.

These threats, along with entering elementary school grounds in an alleged attempt to intimidate a member of congress who lived nearby, and threatening to blow up former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, led investigators to ask for a warrant and begin searching for Taranto.

The last new charge is for felony obstruction of an official proceeding. He faces several federal charges related to the riot including: disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building; disruptive conduct related to attempting to stop the certification of electorate votes; and entering and remaining in restricted areas of a Capitol building.

The charges also now have enhancements because Pence was present, according to court documents listing pending counts against Taranto.

Taranto’s attorneys have not yet filed responses to the new charges, but his trial is tentatively scheduled to begin in July.

‘Mission to hell’

These new charges are the first developments in the case since Taranto was denied bail last year because a judge believed he was a danger to lawmakers.

Taranto allegedly believed he was on a “one-way mission to hell,” and had a “contract” to kill Vice President Kamala Harris, according to court documents obtained by the Herald last September.

While much of the previously reported on threats were included in earlier documents, the September 2023 filings included information about threats that had not yet been made public and were apparently intended to be blacked out but could still be read.

The document noted Taranto’s actions on Jan. 6, his attempts to enter two D.C. area schools to intimidate members of Congress who lived nearby, his threats to blow up a federal building and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his arrest when he tried to get into Obama’s home.

They also included new details of specific threats and calls for violence.

D.C. District Court Judge Carl Nichols wrote that his decision to deny Taranto bail was in part based on information provided by investigators that showed Taranto allegedly exchanging messages on Telegram plotting to kill politicians.

Telegram is a website popular with right-leaning groups that’s meant to be an alternative to Twitter.

Taranto allegedly told another user, who has not been identified, that, “We have to kill everyone who got in my way,” and “I need you to seek vengeance against them.”

The document also alleges that Taranto believed he had a contract to kill Kamala Harris. In May 2023, Taranto allegedly discussed implanting an explosive tooth into the vice president’s mouth. The document says Taranto then stated, “This is the biggest contract I have ever satisfied,” ”We have to kill them all,” “Payout is in the hundreds of millions.”

Arrest out Obama’s home

When arguing bail Taranto’s attorneys told the judge that he is suffering from PTSD and complex mental health issues, and needs to be treated. They had asked for him to be released to his wife’s custody in the Tri-Cities and allow him to travel to the Seattle area for mental health treatment.

Taranto is a U.S. Navy veteran and former webmaster for the Franklin County Republican Party. The organization told the Herald that they cut ties with Taranto in 2022 over his increasingly concerning behavior.

Former President Trump said he’s never met the man after photos of Taranto with a cutout of Trump began circulating on social media.

Investigators say Taranto went to Obama’s home after Trump had posted the address on social media.

Taranto had been splitting his time between the Tri-Cities and attending various protests in D.C. Most recently he was seen at the Freedom Corner protest, which is a vigil outside of the D.C. Metropolitan Jail for Jan. 6 defendants. He also had posted videos of himself protesting for the Freedom Convoy before that.

Most of his social media accounts were taken down late last year. Investigators noted that someone had been attempting to delete incriminating videos.

According to the Gateway Pundit, the Freedom Corner group also cut ties with Taranto after he allegedly began saying Ashli Babbitt was a government plant. Court documents show Taranto was present in the Capitol building in a group with Babbitt when she was shot and killed trying to break through a door between rioters and lawmakers. Babbitt’s mother has been a central figure in the Freedom Corner vigil, according to social media reports.

His relationship with other Jan. 6 defendants had apparently deteriorated to the point that his attorneys said Taranto was attacked in the jail after his arrest, because the other defendants believed he was an informant, due to his erratic behavior.

Taranto has a well-documented history of accusing other Jan. 6 figures, like Ray Epps, of being government plants.

After being kicked out of the Freedom Corner, Taranto seems to have began conducting livestreams discussing conspiracy theories and making threats to attack lawmakers.

Investigators said that in early 2023 he began making threats toward lawmakers.

Taranto allegedly threatened to use his van to bomb a National Institute of Standards and Technology building, claimed to have a detonator to set off the bomb, began attempting to harass and intimidate congressman Jaime Raskin, D-Maryland, who oversaw the House Select Committee on Jan. 6.

He also allegedly threatened to blow up former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., because he was unhappy with him for not releasing more videos he believed would exonerate Jan. 6 defendants.

After the threats to bomb the federal building, a warrant for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riots was obtained and federal agents began searching for Taranto. They found him a few days later after he began to livestream from the Kalorama neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives.

Taranto was making comments about “getting a shot” and trying to find tunnels and access points to the residence, according to investigators.

When law enforcement arrived, Taranto allegedly began to run through a wooded area toward the house. A search of his van found multiple weapons and ammunition, as well as a “Make Space Great Again” hat that appeared to match one he was wearing in surveillance photos from the Capitol and video Taranto of took himself inside the building.

Taranto is also facing a wrongful death civil lawsuit brought by the widow of a D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer who died by suicide just days after being injured in the riot. Taranto is accused of helping another Jan. 6 defendant attack the officer with a weighted metal cane Taranto brought to the Capitol. That defendant, David Walls-Kaufman has already been convicted for his role in the riot.

NBC News Reporter Ryan Reilly spotted Taranto being asked to leave the federal courthouse for being disruptive during Walls-Kaufman’s sentencing last June. That was about three weeks before his arrest.

The civil case was put on hold after the original judge was elevated to a higher court, but was reassigned to a new judge in January and is expected to start moving forward again soon, according to court hearings scheduled for the case.