Trump posted what he said was Obama’s address, prosecutors say. An armed man was soon arrested there

According to federal prosecutors, former President Donald Trump shared what he claimed to be the residential address of former President Barack Obama on his social media platform. This occurred on the same day when law enforcement arrested an armed man near Obama’s property. New details about the case were revealed by prosecutors, shedding light on the incident.

The individual in question is Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old who prosecutors allege took part in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A motion filed by the Justice Department seeks to keep Taranto in custody, citing the discovery of two firearms and numerous rounds of ammunition in the van he had driven across the country and resided in.

Prosecutors state that on June 29, the day of Taranto’s arrest, he reposted a Truth Social post from Trump that purportedly contained Obama’s home address. Taranto also made a post on Telegram stating, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s.” This reference is directed at John Podesta, the former chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign.

Furthermore, Taranto made comments during his YouTube live stream, expressing his desire to obtain a favorable position for a shot. A federal defender representing Taranto did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

According to the federal detention memo, Taranto’s wife informed investigators that he traveled to Washington due to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s earlier offer to provide unseen footage of the January 6 attack. Taranto already faces four misdemeanor counts related to his involvement in the Capitol assault. Prosecutors claim that he was among the rioters who breached the building and reached the entrance of the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber.

Since then, Taranto has remained active online, posting a Facebook video of himself inside the Capitol on that day and endorsing a conspiracy theory suggesting that the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she attempted to enter the Speaker’s Lobby through a broken door, was staged.

The FBI had been monitoring Taranto’s online activities due to his participation in the riot. After he stated on his YouTube live stream that he was in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on a “one-way mission” with the intention of detonating the National Institute of Standards and Technology, authorities began searching for him last Wednesday.

The next day, Taranto continued his live stream from the Washington neighborhood where Obama resides, an area heavily guarded by the U.S. Secret Service. He mentioned seeking “entrance points” and a favorable angle for a shot, as stated in the Justice Department’s detention memo. Law enforcement spotted him a few blocks from the former president’s residence, and he fled the scene but was pursued by Secret Service officers.

You can follow Eric Tucker on http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP.

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More about Trump address disclosure

• Former President Donald Trump
• Barack Obama
• Truth Social
• Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol
• Capitol Police shooting of Ashli Babbitt