Feds: Jan. 6 Defendant Arrested Near Obama Home Made Week-Long Series of Threats

Image copyright: Tyler Merbler/Flickr [via Wikimedia Commons]

The Facts

  • US prosecutors claimed on Wednesday that a man arrested last week driving a van full of weapons near former Pres. Barack Obama's house in Washington, DC, had threatened Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which houses a nuclear research reactor.

  • According to the Justice Dept., Taylor Taranto broadcast threats to Raskin while showing up in his neighborhood in mid-June, called McCarthy's office on June 27, and a day later, revealed plans to detonate explosives at the NIST building.


The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

Donald Trump has not only unleashed a domestic terrorism movement, but he has been actively stimulating his followers to engage in dangerous behavior, such as doxxing a former US president. It's no coincidence that Capitol riot fugitive Taranto was arrested near Obama's home just days after Trump posted on his Truth Social the alleged address of the Obamas' residence.

Pro-Trump narrative

While Taranto has indeed attended some nightly vigils for the Jan. 6 political prisoners, he was kicked out for acting strange and claiming that Ashli Babbitt was not shot dead by police. One can just wonder why the Feds took so long to arrest him, allowing him to walk free in Washington, D.C., even though he was inside the Capitol and near Babbitt when she was killed.


Metaculus Prediction


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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