The January 6 defendant who was arrested with guns last week near former President Barack Obama’s D.C. home threaded a path through Montgomery County, Maryland, in the days prior and livestreamed a broadcast inside a school, court documents say.
Taylor Taranto — who prosecutors say participated in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol — was arrested on June 29 near Obama’s home. He told his followers on YouTube that he was looking to get a “good angle on a shot.”
Days earlier, on June 18, he livestreamed a two-hour broadcast from inside Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park, as the school was empty.
“We’re here at Piney Branch Elementary School,” he narrated on YouTube as he showed a floor mat with the school’s name and logo.
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In court documents, prosecutors say Taranto chose the elementary school because of its proximity to the home of Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who served on the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
Jan. 6 group requested space inside school
A Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson said Wednesday that the school district is reviewing security camera footage.
The principal of Piney Branch Elementary told families in a message on Thursday that what happened is under investigation and Montgomery County Public Schools are working with law enforcement.
A “group that advocates for participants of the January 6 insurrection called Make America Safe Again or MASA requested and received a booking for our school's cafeteria” from 8 to 11:30 p.m. to show a film, Principal Chris Oberdorf wrote. The booking was made through the county’s Office of Community Use of Public Facilities and was in accordance with the office’s procedures, she said. Taranto was not part of the permit request.
“Please be assured that the safety and security of our students, staff, and facilities remain our utmost priority. We continually strive to provide a safe environment for all users of our school facilities,” the principal wrote.
MASA also received permission to show a film in the building that houses the Montgomery County executive's offices on Sept. 11, 2021.
County officials say schools and other public buildings are available for use by community groups. They are required to follow school system guidelines while exercising their constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of assembly.
MASA likely won't be allowed back into schools after breaking school system guidelines by walking around the school and livestreaming.
County officials say MASA's name did get their attention and they asked police to check out the group before letting it use a public facility.
‘You can find Taranto living and sleeping in his van down by the DC jail’
A group of people who tried for months to alert local and federal law enforcement to Taranto’s presence, and that of other people facing Jan. 6 charges, recorded Taranto’s livestream in the school.
A tweet from June 14, two weeks before Taranto’s arrest near Obama’s home, tagged the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“Just in case you’re interested @FBIWFO you can find Taranto living and sleeping in his van down by the DC jail on #freedomcorner as he has for over 2 months now with other unarrested J6 insurrectionists. Again, just in case you’re interested,” the tweet said.
People sympathetic to jailed Jan. 6 defendants maintain an almost permanent presence outside the DC Jail, in an area that some call Freedom Corner.
D.C. resident Patricia Eguino regularly counter-protests there. She said she and others have repeatedly tried to tell anyone they could about Taranto’s presence in D.C.
“I’ve seen Taylor Taranto multiple times, and it’s only — it’s extremely worrisome that nothing is being done about Taylor Taranto until he actually filmed himself behind Barack Obama, President Barack Obama’s residence,” Eguino said.
Eguino, who also serves as an elected D.C. advisory neighborhood commissioner, said she and other residents are very worried about having Jan. 6 defendants in the District.
Law enforcement found two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Taranto’s van when they arrested him, prosecutors said. Another 18 guns registered to him are still at large.
Before Taranto was arrested near Obama’s home, former President Donald Trump posted what he said was Obama’s home address. Taranto reposted it, prosecutors said.
After Taranto was arrested outside Obama’s home, federal officials said they previously had been unable to charge him for alleged crimes related to Jan. 6 because they hadn’t been able to find him. As he lived in a van, he was considered to have no fixed address, court documents said.
A judge said since the only charges against Taranto right now are four misdemeanors related to the Capitol insurrection, he could order him released until trial. Prosecutors have been given until next week to file additional charges.
Andrea Swalec contributed to this report.
