"Taylor Taranto: The Trial of a Capitol Riot Defendant Facing Federal Firearms Charges and Hoax Bomb Threat"
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"Taylor Taranto: The Trial of a Capitol Riot Defendant Facing Federal Firearms Charges and Hoax Bomb Threat"
[!CDATA[Following President Donald Trump's mass pardons for supporters involved in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, only a few defendants remained in jail. One of them, Taylor Taranto, a military veteran, faced federal firearms charges and a hoax bomb threat. His trial began with testimony about his 2023 arrest near former President Barack Obama's Washington home. Taranto was found with guns, ammunition, and a machete in his van, and he live-streamed a video on YouTube mentioning underground tunnels and a "good angle on a shot." Despite Trump's pardons, some defendants faced separate charges not covered by the clemency. In Taranto's case, the firearms offenses were deemed unrelated to the pardon. He is accused of carrying firearms without a license, possessing large-capacity magazines and ammunition illegally, and making a hoax bomb threat. The trial is being heard by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols without a jury, and the prosecution's first witness was an FBI agent who led the search for Taranto after Capitol police heard what they believed to be a bomb threat in his video. Taranto's defense argued that he was joking in an "avant-garde" manner in the video and did not possess bomb-making materials. Despite being jailed since his arrest, the judge deemed him a danger to the public. Taranto faces four misdemeanors related to the Capitol riot, where he was seen at the Speaker's Lobby entrance around the time of Ashli Babbitt's fatal shooting. His wife mentioned that he came to Washington for unseen Jan. 6 attack video footage promised by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Taranto made threatening comments about McCarthy on video. During his time in the Washington jail, Taranto was reportedly attacked by other inmates in the Jan. 6 defendants' wing due to negative comments he made about Babbitt.]]