KENNEWICK — New court documents detail a deeper involvement by an Eastern Washington man in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The warrant for Taylor Taranto’s participation in the riot was issued Thursday morning, the same day he was arrested with 400 rounds of ammunition and material to make explosives near the home of former President Barack Obama.
The 37-year-old Pasco man was arrested that day near the Obamas’ D.C. home. At the time D.C. Metropolitan Police said he was arrested on a warrant related to the January 2021 riot, but the details of those charges weren’t available until Monday.
He was booked into the D.C. Metropolitan Jail on Friday, but has not yet been charged in that incident outside the Obamas home.
New court documents detail the charges that led to a warrant for his arrest. They paint a picture of someone accused of being actively involved in nearly every major moment of the attack on the Capitol.
Taranto, a Navy veteran, is a one-time Pasco school board candidate and former webmaster for the Franklin County Republican Party.
Jan. 6 involvement
Investigators say Taranto attended a rally near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, then joined the larger group of protesters as it moved toward the Capitol building where lawmakers were certifying the vote to declare Joe Biden the next president of the United States.
Once there, Taranto is accused of picking up some metal scaffolding on the ground and throwing it. A photo shows Taranto motioning toward the scaffolding, with a line of police in the background.
Around 2:30 p.m., as the Capitol was breached, security footage shows Taranto entering the building.
Taranto has been claiming on social media to have seen Ashli Babbitt get shot, and the court documents place him where she was attempting to break through a glass window between protesters and the lawmakers being evacuated.
“At approximately 2:42 p.m., Taranto was captured on video standing at the entrance to the Speaker’s Lobby, an area behind the House chamber where Congresspeople were evacuating from the House chamber to a safe location,” investigators wrote. “Around this time, a rioter attempted to jump through a glass window and was shot by a United States Capitol Police officer.”
Afterward officers began pushing rioters out of the building. That’s when Taranto and David Walls Kaufman are accused of attacking MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith.
The officer’s widow, Erin Smith, filed a wrongful death civil suit against the two in 2021.
In those documents, Taranto admits to being at the riot, but claims he was there to document it. He is shown wearing a black hoodie and a “Make Space Great Again” hat, a reference to the U.S. Space Force, and wielding a black cane, that investigators believe was a Ka-Bar TDI Self Defense Cane.
The company describes it as “a vital defense tool where traditional weapons are prohibited.” The canes weigh more than two pounds.
Investigators say that in the scuffle Taranto handed Kaufman the weapon, which he used to hit Smith in the face and head repeatedly.
Smith died by suicide nine days later as he was scheduled to return to work. Smith’s widow said in an Op-Ed in the Washington Post, published in January 2022, that two medical examiners “have testified that post-concussive syndrome and brain injury were the real causes of (her husband’s) death” because the concussion he suffered led to severe depression and suicide.
Taranto claimed in court documents filed in the civil suit that he was just at the Capitol as an independent member of the press. But the investigators said no evidence was presented to show he was there as part of news gathering.
By 2:56 p.m. Taranto and other rioters had been pushed out of the building through the upper House doors, said the documents. They then began to gather on the central steps on the East side of the building.
“Taranto stood on the steps for some time. While there, he listened to speeches by others assembled there, and at various times yelled and cheered on other people standing in the vicinity, smoked a cigarette, and took photos with his phone. Taranto also fought with other rioters, using his cane to fend them off,” investigators wrote.
Taranto is seen standing just feet from Jacob Chansley, the rioter known as the “Qanon Shaman.”
Chansley, who achieved notoriety during the attack, is best known for images showing him sitting in the chair of the President of the Senate, traditionally the Vice President of the United States.
Former Vice President Mike Pence was a target of rioters during the breach of the building.
Taranto also was identified using cellphone data by people who know him through employment and his social media accounts using the pseudonym Eraci Taranot, an anagram of his wife’s name.
Kaufman was later criminally charged for his role in the riot, but Taranto had not been.
Kaufman entered a plea deal in his criminal case, and was sentenced to two months in jail, a $500 fine and $500 restitution. The plea deal, signed in January, also included an agreement from Kaufman to cooperate with investigators in additional cases before his sentencing.
Taranto was identified as being in D.C. at Kaufman’s June 13 sentencing hearing when NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly observed him acting erratically in the courtroom.
Taranto was made to leave by U.S. Marshals because he would not stop trying to use his phone to take video in the courthouse, according to Reilly. Federal courts do not allow the use of photography or video.
A few days later Taranto also participated in a livestream where he described being there when Babbitt was shot.
Investigators said that during the livestream, Taranto and the host reviewed footage of the riot and Taranto pointed himself out in multiple sections saying, “That’s me screaming,” and “This is me.”
Taranto had been going back and forth between the Tri-Cities and D.C. over the past two years to participate in various protests, living in his van outside the D.C. jail most recently.
His social media accounts last place him in the Tri-Cities as recently as April. He had posted video of himself at the Easter Day drag brunch protests at a Richland restaurant.
Taranto’s arrest
Taranto was arrested Thursday as he ran toward the Obamas’ Kalorama neighborhood home after being spotted by law enforcement agents. He was stopped by Secret Service agents before he could reach the home. It’s unclear if he had weapons with him at the time of his arrest.
Early that morning Taranto had been reposting conspiracy theories about the home. The conspiracy theories, posted on Truth social by Trump, claimed that there were secret tunnels beneath the Obama house, that it contained a “War Room” and was funded by left-wing philanthropist George Soros.
Taranto later posted that he “had them surrounded.”
Taranto is due in court Wednesday. He is currently on a 72-hour detention hold. It’s unclear if new charges will be presented at this hearing.
The current charges against Taranto on the warrant include:
- Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds
- Disorderly conduct on capitol grounds
- Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building
