Jan. 6 participant, identified nearly two years ago, is arrested near Obama home

A conspiracy-minded Donald Trump supporter who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested Thursday near the home of former President Barack Obama, a law enforcement official told NBC News.

Taylor Taranto, 37, who was identified by online sleuths in August 2021 and faces a lawsuit from the widow of a Washington police officer who died by suicide, recently showed up at the sentencing of David Walls-Kaufman, his co-defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses both men of being involved in an assault on Officer Jeffrey Smith on Jan. 6, 2021, which they have both denied.

While Walls-Kaufman was arrested last year and has already been sentenced, Taylor had not been charged.

In recent weeks, Taranto has been living in a van near the Washington jailhouse, according to his social media accounts, and has repeatedly wondered in online posts why he had not yet been arrested over Jan. 6. Taranto also posted a video of himself on YouTube inside the Capitol during the riot.