A man who was identified by an online network of Jan. 6 sleuths two years ago was arrested Thursday near former President Barack Obama’s home, a law enforcement official told NBC News. The “Sedition Hunters,” a group who tracks down alleged insurrectionists, pinned down Taylor Taranto, 37, as one of the men believed to have helped assault a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer. According to a lawsuit filed by officer Jeffrey Smith’s widowed wife, Taranto “directly aided, abetted and encouraged” co-defendant David Walls-Kaufman—already sentenced for the MAGA riot—to “violently” swing at Smith’s head with a crowbar-like object. The grieving wife says Smith suffered “severe and permanent injuries” that caused “great pain and mental anguish” from the attacks, leading to his suicide. Taranto has admitted to being at Capitol and even posted on social media wondering why he hadn’t been detained over Jan. 6 yet. His van—which was found near the location of his arrest—will be swept by bomb technicians, a Metropolitan Police Department official told The Daily Beast. The official said he has been charged with being a fugitive from Justice, pursuant to an arrest warrant. An investigation is ongoing.
