A man sued over his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riot was arrested Thursday with firearms in his van near the residence of former president Barack Obama, according to a law enforcement official.
The official who described the weapons did so on the condition of anonymity because the investigation remains ongoing, including into what Taranto’s intentions were.
The arrest occurred about 2 p.m. in the 2400 block of Kalorama Road NW, when Secret Service officers found Taranto and detained him, according to D.C. police’s deputy communications director Paris Lewbel.
D.C. police then sent a specialized unit to perform a sweep of Taranto’s van, which was found near the location of his arrest.
The police department said in a statement that “there is no active threat to the community and this incident remains under investigation.”
It was unclear whether the Obama family was home at the time.
The lawsuit against Taranto and another man was filed in 2021 by Erin Smith, the wife of D.C. police officer Jeffrey Smith, whose suicide nine days after the riot was ruled a line-of-duty death. In the civil suit, the Smith family’s lawyers said Taranto handed a cane or a crowbar to the other man, David Walls-Kaufman. Walls-Kaufman then used the weapon to strike Smith in the face, according to court documents.
Taranto, who is representing himself in court, categorically denied the allegations in court documents. Walls-Kaufman was charged criminally and with trespassing and disorderly conduct, and sentenced to a two-month jail term.
Police said Thursday Taranto had no fixed address. Taranto said in court filings that he was a resident of Washington State.