WASHINGTON — Saying he feared the potential "catastrophic consequences" if he was released and something went wrong, a federal judge ordered a Jan. 6 defendant arrested with weapons near former President Barack Obama's home detained pending trial on Wednesday.
Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui initially appeared inclined to release Taylor Taranto, the 37-year-old Washington state resident arrested last month in D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood. Faruqui said he didn't believe Taranto was a flight risk and felt he couldn't separately consider whether he posed a danger to the public because Taranto has, to date, been charged only with four misdemeanor counts relating to his alleged participation in the Capitol riot more than two-and-a-half years ago.
Shortly before Wednesday's detention hearing, however, the federal prosecutors provided Faruqui with a recent decision by D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg coming to the opposite conclusion. With that decision in hand, Faruqui said he felt the combination of the weapons and ammunition found in Taranto's van and his alleged threatening statements toward politicians — as well as what the FBI has claimed was a threat to blow up his vehicle at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland — met the burden for detention.
"I'm scared that if something goes wrong or there's an accident there could be catastrophic consequences," he said.
Taranto, 37, was arrested last month in D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood after Secret Service agents spotted him acting strangely near the Obama family’s D.C. home. According to a detention memo filed by prosecutors, agents arrested him after he attempted to flee. A search of Taranto’s van subsequently turned up two firearms, four hundred rounds of ammunition and a machete. Earlier in the day, prosecutors said, Taranto had re-posted the Obama family’s address on his Truth Social account after former President Donald Trump shared it on his social media site.
In the days prior to his arrest, investigators said Taranto had also made "ominous comments" about Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other concerning statements about Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who was a member of the January 6th Committee.
Although prosecutors told Faruqui last week they intended to seek new charges against Taranto, none had been filed as of Wednesday. Taranto's attorney, assistant federal public defender Kathryn Guevara, argued that was because prosecutors couldn't support their initial claims about her client. She harshly criticized the government for suggesting her client had trespassed at a Maryland elementary school — in fact, he had participated in a permitted movie screening hosted by a group called "Make America Safe Again" — and for claiming he was a fugitive. She said the intense media coverage of Taranto's arrest, as well as early and incorrect law enforcement reports that he had explosive materials in his van, had deeply damaged Taranto and his family.
"That picture can't be undone," Guevara said. "Those articles can't be unwritten. And they will continue to have enduring effects on my client."
Guevara said her client was a U.S. Navy veteran who had served the country admirably and had been in treatment for years for PTSD from a combat deployment. In court Wednesday, she said he'd been the driver in a convoy that came under enemy fire and suffered casualties — something that profoundly impacted Taranto. Guevara argued her client's willingness to seek and maintain treatment for PTSD for years, as well as his mother's offer to allow him to live at her home while she served as a court-appointed custodian, warranted release. Faruqui described his decision not to grant release as "heartbreaking," and told Taranto he'd been let down by the country he served.
"We failed you," Faruqui said. "And now you have to pay the price for us failing to take care of one of our most vulnerable populations: our veterans."
Prior to his arrest, Taranto had reportedly been living in his van for nearly two months near the D.C. Jail, where he had been a regular participant of the nightly vigil organized by supporters of Jan. 6 detainees. Guevara said he'd come to D.C. in response to what he believed was an invitation from Speaker McCarthy to view unreleased footage of the Jan. 6 riot. Although he did not mention either McCarthy or Trump by name, Faruqui pointed out none of the people who'd provided the information Taranto had acted on were in the courtroom on Wednesday.
"Where are the people telling you to do things, Mr. Taranto?" the judge asked. "Where are they? They're not here."
Faruqui ordered the parties to return for a hearing on July 25 at 2 p.m. Guevara said they intended to appeal his detention decision to the chief judge. Guevara also asked Faruqui to request Taranto be placed at the Alexandria Detention Center after he was assaulted Tuesday while housed at the D.C. Jail.