FIRST ON FOX: The 44-year-old Washington, D.C., man accused of trying to smuggle a machete and three more knives into the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday has been released from custody.
Mel J. Horne is accused of trying to break through a magnetometer and an X-ray security screen after placing two knives and a box cutter in the plastic tray.
Authorities then searched her purse and found the machete, according to the criminal complaint. He received pretrial probation after a hearing in D.C. Superior Court last week, according to police and court records. Details were not immediately available.
“[Horne] “stated that he was visiting the United States Capitol to attend former President Carter's state funeral, and that he possessed the knives and machete for use in yard work,” police alleged in an affidavit.
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US Capitol Police prevented a man from entering the Capitol at a security checkpoint after he was allegedly found to have a machete and three knives in his bag. (US Capitol Police)
Officers noted that there was more than 6 inches of snow on the ground and that the city had declared a snow emergency, then asked him when his last yard work was.
“[Horne] “He was informed … that he was not coming to or going to a yard job,” the affidavit continued.[Horne] stated that he was homeless and that he carries these items everywhere he travels.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who was attending Carter's funeral on the same day Horne allegedly tried to smuggle in weapons, will be inaugurated for his second term on January 20.
Horne had been living with his parents until they asked a court to remove him in 2022, according to court documents in an unrelated civil case. It was dismissed without prejudice after he agreed to leave, with the caveat that he could return to tend the bonsai trees in his garden.
“My son lives in our home (rent-free) and within the last year began using a substance to get high or alter his mind,” his mother, Brenda Horne, alleged in a civil complaint. “Now he is becoming violent, we are afraid and we want him removed from our house.”
Read the police affidavit.
Later in the document, she identified “PCP” as the drug she believed he was using, which she said made it difficult to handle when she called community resource officers.
“It took [four] Community Resources visits on Friday to finally get him out due to the violence, and he is still hospitalized trying to get out,” he wrote.
He asked the judge to order him removed from his property and force him to receive mental health treatment.
The case was ultimately dismissed without prejudice and Horne agreed to stay away from his parents' home for a year, with the caveat that he would only be allowed to return to the outside of the property to care for his bonsai trees, according to court documents.
Horne's mother could not immediately be reached for comment.
read the civil complaint
CAPITOL POLICE ARRESTS MAN TRYING TO START HIS CAR MIDDLE TRUMP DC VISIT TO GOP SENATORS
U.S. Capitol Police arrested Horne last week at an
It happened hours before a visit by Trump to pay his respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
“Our officers know they cannot let their guard down for even a second,” US Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said after the arrest. “It is this constant focus and attention to detail that helps keep this campus safe.”
Carter died at the age of 100 on December 29.
United States Capitol surrounded by fencing in preparation for January 6, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
The incident report in that case identifies Horne as a prior offender, although the nature of his prior conviction was not immediately clear. He was previously jailed in 2019, but the Department of Corrections told Fox News Digital it was not authorized to release records about that case.
He is now charged with multiple counts of carrying a dangerous weapon.
Two officers detained Horne at the security checkpoint after finding a machete, according to the document. With probable cause, they searched further and allegedly found the other knives.
POLICE ARRESTS MAN AFTER TRYING TO BRING MACHETE AND 3 KNIVES INTO US CAPITOL, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP ARRIVES
A scout troop salutes as they pay their respects in front of former President Jimmy Carter's flag-draped casket in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 8, 2025. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)
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A few hours later, Capitol Police arrested another man, Adrian J. Hinton, 35, of Virginia, for allegedly trying to set a car on fire in front of the Grant Memorial.
The cases are not believed to be connected, officials said.
None of the arrests interrupted the tribute to Carter.
