Machete-Wielding Madman Caught at US Capitol Freed Days Before Trump Inauguration – EVOL

The 44-year-old Washington, D.C., man accused of trying to smuggle a machete and three more knives into the Capitol Visitor Center Wednesday has been released from custody.

Mel J. Horne is accused of trying to get through a magnetometer and X-ray security screen after putting two pocket knives and a box cutter in the plastic tray.

Authorities then searched his bag and found the machete, according to the criminal complaint. He received a conditional pre-trial release after a hearing in D.C.’s Superior Court last week, according to police and court records. Specifics were not immediately available, but he was also given an order to stay away from the Capitol.

“[Horne] stated that he was visiting the U.S. Capitol to attend Former President Carter’s Lying in State Funeral, and that he possessed the knives and machete to use for landscaping work,” police alleged in an affidavit.

Officers noted that there were more than 6 inches of snow on the ground and that the city had declared a snow emergency, then asked him when his last landscaping job had been.

“[Horne] advised…that he was not coming from or on his way to a landscaping job,” the affidavit continued. “[Horne] stated that

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