U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
A Houston man released from federal prison in Colorado last month, after being pardoned by President Donald Trump for his crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested Thursday on a charge of online solicitation of a minor dating back to 2016, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Andrew Taake, 36, was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2024 after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers with bear spray and a whip-like weapon during the attack in Washington D.C. Taake was released from a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, on Jan. 20, after he and more than 1,500 others involved in the insurrection were pardoned by Trump on his first day in office.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Taake was taken into custody in Leon County, located two hours north of Houston. According to the DA’s office, the arrest occurred after a surveillance operation with the assistance of multiple law-enforcement agencies.
“We would like to thank the coordinated efforts of our office’s Fugitive Apprehension Section, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety for their diligence in getting this suspected child predator back into custody,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement.
The defense attorney listed for Taake in Harris County’s online court records did not immediately respond to a message Thursday seeking comment.
According to Harris County court documents, Taake is accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with an individual who he knew to be under the age of 17 via an online messaging service. The case against Taake was still pending in Harris County when he was arrested by the FBI in July 2021 for his actions on Jan. 6.
Late last month, the DA’s office said it had asked federal authorities to hold Taake in Colorado due to his pending warrant in Texas, but that Taake was still released despite the DA’s office faxing a copy of the warrant to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 15, five days before he was pardoned.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Taake was released on Jan. 20 in compliance with Trump’s pardon but declined to comment on why he was not held on the unrelated warrant in Texas.
“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) does not discuss specific security practices or conditions of confinement for any individual, or provide additional information on individuals who are no longer in our custody,” a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said in a statement to Houston Public Media.
Trump’s pardon specifically issued a “complete and unconditional pardon” for those “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” No other potential crimes were mentioned in the pardon.
Taake was among more than a dozen people from the Houston area who were either charged or convicted of crimes related to the 2021 insurrection, according to a database compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Taake was charged with assaulting officers during the insurrection after he spoke about his involvement in the riot with a woman on the Bumble dating app, according to federal court documents. Body camera footage from officers at the Capitol, along with other photos and videos posted to social media, showed Taake spraying police with bear spray and then striking them with a metal, whip-like weapon.
