Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Vandalizing Jewish Cemetery With Swastikas
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced that George Horn, 36, of Dundalk, pleaded guilty in federal court on October 20 to damaging religious property. Horn admitted that in July 2023 he entered the Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Baltimore County, and used black spray paint to deface multiple headstones, primarily with swastikas, and that he targeted the cemetery because it is a Jewish cemetery.
According to his plea agreement, caretakers discovered days later that 12 gravestones had been spray-painted with swastikas and other symbols. Despite cleanup efforts, black spray-paint residue in the outline of a swastika remained on some gravestones, necessitating replacements. The cemetery was established in the late 19th century and is located in Dundalk. Investigators found antisemitic items in Horn's car and storage unit, including a journal with references to Nazism and white supremacy, a nine-second video of Horn spray-painting two gravestones, and a translated copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf on his phone.
Horn faces a maximum of three years in prison. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox set sentencing for January 14, 2027, at 3 p.m. The case was investigated by the FBI, the Baltimore County Police Department and the Baltimore Police Department, with assistance from the Anti-Defamation League.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Baltimore 联邦法院大楼（Garmatz Federal Building，资料图），来源 Wikimedia Commons，CC0
