A Maryland man pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to vandalizing 12 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery outside Baltimore, where he spray-painted swastikas and other antisemitic symbols, according to a plea agreement obtained by Walla.
George Horne, 36, of Dundalk, Maryland, admitted to targeting the Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery because it was Jewish.
The plea agreement revealed new details about the attack, including racist messages Horne exchanged before the vandalism, a video he recorded of himself carrying it out, and Nazi memorabilia and white supremacist literature discovered by investigators.
Among the materials recovered was an image of the Pokémon character Pikachu wearing a Nazi armband.
The FBI investigated the incident alongside the Baltimore County Police Department, with the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland prosecuting the case.
According to the investigation, Horne arrived at the Jewish cemetery on the night of July 16-17, 2023, after sending messages to two users of an encrypted messaging application indicating that he intended to visit a "rabbi graveyard."
He subsequently entered the cemetery and spray-painted swastikas in black paint on several gravestones.
Following the vandalism, Horne sent another individual a message describing his actions as a "secret, nonviolent Aryan protest."
He also complained that six Jewish cemeteries had been established along the street among the burial grounds of those he described as the "original white residents."
Dundalk, a longtime industrial suburb east of Baltimore, developed around the region's steel mills and port facilities.
The Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery is among the historic burial grounds serving Baltimore's Jewish community, whose roots date back to the 19th century.
Established in the late 1800s, the cemetery served longstanding Jewish congregations in the city and is managed by the Jewish Cemetery Association of Greater Baltimore.
The cemetery had previously been targeted in an antisemitic attack in 2021, when swastikas were spray-painted on more than a dozen gravestones.
Investigators found that Horne shared a link to a news article about the earlier vandalism, though authorities did not establish that he was involved in that incident.
Distinctive tattoo helped investigators identify suspect
A key piece of evidence against Horne was a nine-second video he recorded while committing the vandalism.
The footage showed his tattooed hand spray-painting a swastika onto a gravestone.
Investigators were able to connect Horne to the attack by matching a distinctive tattoo on the back of the hand visible in the video to a tattoo on his own hand.
Cemetery workers discovered the vandalism five days after the incident and identified 12 damaged gravestones.
Approximately $1,000 was spent attempting to remove the paint, but traces of the swastikas remained visible on some of the stones. Replacing the damaged gravestones is expected to cost several thousand dollars more.
Additional fencing and security cameras were installed at the cemetery following the attack.
Nazi memorabilia, white supremacist writings discovered
Searches of Horne's vehicle, phones, and a storage unit he used uncovered numerous items associated with Nazi ideology and white supremacy.
Among the materials recovered was a compact disc bearing the words "Warning: Extreme Nazism," along with a photograph of Horne wearing a hat displaying the Black Sun symbol, which is associated with neo-Nazi movements.
Investigators also found a phone wallpaper depicting Pikachu wearing a Nazi armband featuring a swastika.
Other materials included a translated copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, messages in which Horne exchanged photographs of Nazi coins, and images and memes expressing support for Hitler and white supremacy.
Investigators also recovered a journal containing references to Nazism and the white supremacist slogan known as the "14 Words."
A sticker bearing the number 1488 was also discovered. The number is widely used as a code among neo-Nazi groups, with 14 referring to the white supremacist slogan and 88 representing the Nazi salute "Heil Hitler," based on the letter H being the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Under the plea agreement, Horne acknowledged that he had deliberately selected the cemetery because of its Jewish identity.
Horne and his defense attorney also stipulated that the facts outlined in the agreement were accurate and that prosecutors could have proven them beyond a reasonable doubt had the case proceeded to trial.
The offense to which Horne pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
US District Judge Matthew Maddox scheduled sentencing for mid-January.