Andrew Taake, a 36-year-old man from Texas recently pardoned by former President Donald Trump for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection, is now wanted for allegedly soliciting a minor online, according to the district attorney’s office. Taake, hailing from Houston, was released from federal prison in Colorado on January 20 after serving a 74-month sentence for attacking police officers during the insurrection, where he pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon in 2023, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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Initially, Taake was on pretrial release for a pending child solicitation case in Texas when he participated in storming the Capitol along with hundreds of other rioters, assaulting police officers with bear spray and a metal whip. His actions were brought to light when he confided in a woman he met on the dating app Bumble about his activities on January 6, leading to the FBI being informed, as reported by Law & Crime. Subsequently, he was taken into federal custody in July 2021 and later sentenced in June 2024, being housed in the federal prison in Florence, Colorado.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas confirmed that Taake is currently wanted for allegedly soliciting a minor online back in 2016 when he was 27 years old. Despite an outstanding warrant against him in Houston, he was released after five days in accordance with the pardon issued by President Trump. The county sheriff’s Fugitive Warrants division had requested federal authorities to keep Taake in custody due to the pending warrant, but his release went ahead following the presidential pardon.
Court records obtained by the Houston Chronicle indicate that Taake is accused of soliciting a person he believed to be under seventeen years old for sexual contact. The Harris County DA’s office urged the federal Bureau of Prisons to detain Taake upon his release from prison. If not for Trump’s pardon, Taake would have remained incarcerated until 2027 and under supervised release until 2030, as noted by Law & Crime. Despite attempts to reach out for comment, Taake’s attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request.
The Harris County DA’s office highlighted the challenging task of re-arresting individuals like Taake, who were released with pending state warrants, emphasizing the considerable resources this would require. Efforts are underway to track down Taake to ensure he faces the 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online. This case adds another layer of complexity to Taake’s legal troubles, following his involvement in the Capitol riot and subsequent conviction.
This latest development underscores the implications of the pardon granted to Taake, raising questions about the balance between federal and state jurisdictions in such cases. The intersection of online criminal activity and acts of violence during the Capitol insurrection paints a troubling picture of the various legal challenges at play. As the authorities strive to apprehend Taake and bring him to justice for the alleged solicitation offence, the case serves as a reminder of the complexities surrounding criminal investigations and the pursuit of accountability in such cases.
In the midst of ongoing scrutiny surrounding the events of January 6 and their aftermath, the news of Taake’s alleged online misconduct further fuels the debate on the repercussions of his actions and the mechanisms in place to address them. With Taake now a fugitive in relation to the new allegations, the efforts to locate and detain him demonstrate the sustained commitment to upholding the law and ensuring that individuals are held accountable for their actions, irrespective of any previous legal interventions.