A 1/6 insurrectionist who was armed and arrested near the Obama home was back in Washington, DC because of Kevin McCarthy’s offer of 1/6 footage.
According to a court filing from the Department of Justice:
According to Taranto’s wife, he came to D.C. in response to Speaker of the House Kevin
McCarthy’s offer to produce January 6 video. Since that time, Taranto has consistently appeared at so-called Freedom Corner, “protested” at various other locations, spoken and been interviewed about his participation on January 6, and consistently live streamed and posted videos espousing numerous conspiracy theories.
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On June 27, 2023, Taranto’s YouTube channel posted a video of Taranto playing an audio recording on his phone. In the recording, Taranto, purportedly on the phone with Speaker McCarthy’s office, repeatedly asks to be granted access to video footage from January 6, 2021.
On June 28, 2023, Taranto began livestreaming on his YouTube channel. The stream began by showing Taranto’s face, but quickly panned to show that he was sitting in his parked van. Taranto stated that his van was parked in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and indicated that people were working on the vehicle. During the video, Taranto made various statements that the van was “self-driving.” Notably, Taranto stated that he was “just going one way for this mission, to hell,” and though he had a “detonator” he did not “really need one for this.” Taranto stated that the van would only have to go straight and described that he will be able to keep it straight on the road using a steering wheel lock. He stated that he will not be near it when the van “goes off.”
During the video, Taranto also made ominous comments referencing Speaker McCarthy,
saying, “Coming at you McCarthy. Can’t stop what’s coming. Nothing can stop what’s coming.”
A very dangerous 1/6 insurrectionist moved across the country and was living in his van, but according to prosecutors, Kevin McCarthy’s decision to claim that the 1/6 video from the Capitol cameras was going to be made available brought a very dangerous person back to Washington, DC where he threatened Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Speaker McCarthy (R-CA), and was found near the home of former President Obama.
If McCarthy didn’t treat the 1/6 video like a political prop, a wanted fugitive might not have returned to Washington.
Kevin McCarthy endangered his own life and the lives of others by trying to play political games with the 1/6 attack.