A man arrested with a machete and other knives on Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol Visitor Center told Capitol Police he was homeless, according to charging documents.
The charges identified Mel Horne as the man.
The arrest occurred just hours before President-elect Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill for a meeting with Senate Republicans to discuss how to implement his agenda. Meanwhile, the public was paying homage to Jimmy Carter who lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda. The Capitol Visitor Center is where those who wish to see Carter’s casket enter.
The charging documents stated that Horne was arrested when he put a brown bag, two folding knives, and a boxcutter in a container as part of a security check. After the bag was scanned by an X-ray, a machete was found in it.
According to the charges, Horne claimed that he had come to Washington to see Carter lie in state. He also stated that the knives and machete were for landscaping. After an officer questioned his landscaping story and pointed out that Washington had been blanketed with snow in recent days, the man changed his story. Horne claimed he wasn’t coming from a landscape job, and that he is homeless and carries the items wherever he goes.
He was charged with possessing a dangerous weapon.
Security was increased around the Capitol on Monday when lawmakers met to confirm Trump’s win and count the votes.
