Judge says suspect arrested outside Obama residence was ‘taking orders’: ‘I’m frustrated you’re here’

Taylor Taranto, the suspect arrested near former President Barack Obama’s residence last month, will be held in police custody until his trial – but the judge overseeing his case expressed sympathy for his situation.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said he does not think Taranto is a flight risk but stated he must consider his “dangerousness” in light of the suspect’s possession of firearms and threats to elected officials.

Taranto, an Iraq war veteran, will remain in detention in Washington, D.C. 

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Faruqui added that he believes Taranto was simply “taking orders.”

On the same day as his eventual arrest, Taranto reposted a Truth Social message from former President Donald Trump containing Obama’s purported address, prosecutors claim.

“I’m frustrated you’re here,” Faruqui said of Taranto. “If our system was fair, you wouldn’t be here.”

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Faruqui told Taranto that the criminal justice system had “failed” him as a U.S. military veteran.

Referring to Taranto’s social media posts, Faruqui said the “temperature is way too high in political discussion” and he “doesn’t have context for his speech.”

Prosecutors at the Wednesday hearing clarified previous confusion about the case – saying Taranto was in possession of weapons but not explosives and was not technically on the Obamas’ property at the time of the arrest. 

Taranto, 37, a Washington state resident, was already wanted by authorities for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 riot when he was taken into custody by Secret Service agents on June 29 in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The arrest came a day after he livestreamed himself on his public YouTube channel – during which he said he had a detonator and threatened to blow up his “self-driving” vehicle at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, prosecutors said. 

The case’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25. The defense stated it “plans to appeal detention decisions.”

Fox News Digital’s Jack Boisseau contributed to this report.