Soft-on-crime struck again as the machete-armed man arrested at the U.S. Capitol the day of the president-elect’s visit received pre-trial leniency despite a record of anti-Trump rhetoric.
Since surviving a would-be assassin during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump has faced a number of potential threats including an armed suspect at a golf course and an alleged Iranian plot. While U.S. Capitol police touted their efforts to secure the grounds for Inauguration Day, the Washington, D.C. justice system saw fit to release a man who, according to court documents, considered Trump and his allies “enemies of the state.”
As was reported, 44-year-old Mel Jamahal Horne had been arrested on Jan. 8 after attempting to enter the Capitol Visitor Center with a number of blades, including a machete the same day that the GOP leader was paying respects to late President Jimmy Carter.
Wednesday, Horne received a conditional pre-trial release even as court documents highlighted by Fox News Digital alleged the suspect’s social media was filled with rants against Trump.
The X account under his name pointed to posts in recent days that referred to Trump and close adviser Elon Musk as “s—bags” and claimed they “act as consistent enemies of the state.”
“I’m praying for all of us. He regardless of how much of an enemy of the American people he really is, is our President elect so I will definitely pray for his health wellbeing and safety as well as that Jesus actually is able to touch his heart and show him the way,” said Horne in a more measured post.
I’m praying for all of us. He regardless of how much of an enemy of the American people he really is, is our President elect so I will definitely pray for his health wellbeing and safety as well as that Jesus actually is able to touch his heart and show him the way.
— Mel Horne (@MadMerdhyn) December 31, 2024
Elsewhere, the suspect was said to have responded to a post about the U.S. Capitol police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021, and wrote, “Trump should be tried because he rallied them folks and sent them in there…He sent that girl to die.”
The account also griped about Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and even acquitted U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny.
“[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,” the police affidavit detailed. “[Horne] advised…that he was not coming from or on his way to a landscaping job. [Horne] stated that he was homeless and that he carries these items everywhere he travels.”
Last week’s incident was not the suspect’s first run-in with the law, however, the Department of Corrections told Fox News Digital that it was not authorized to release records regarding Horne’s jail time for a felony conviction in 2019.
Meanwhile, Horne’s parents filed a civil complaint in 2022 and his mother, Brenda Horne, alleged, “My son is living in our house (rent-free) and in the past year has started to use a substance to get high or alter his mind. Now he is getting violent, and we are afraid and want him removed from our home.”
“It took [four] visits from Community Resources Friday to finally remove him due to violence, and he is still hospitalized trying to get out,” she said before the case had ultimately been dismissed.
As with previous concerning incidents involving the president-elect’s safety, social media users pointed toward the narrative sold by the left regarding Trump.
The left has fomented this response, you can’t say the things they did about Trump and not have this happen.
— Sherry Brumit (@BrumieL) January 15, 2025
He was groomed by the left and all of the bullshit from CNN, msnbc, and the view.
— Kenneth Stepp (@SteppKenne22695) January 15, 2025
They keep building the narrative for something more sinister to happen pay attention
— Pac-Man (@Pacman1980_) January 15, 2025
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