George Horn pleads guilty over swastikas painted on 12 Baltimore gravestones

George Horn pleaded guilty in federal court to damaging gravestones at Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Baltimore County. The cemetery’s caretakers discovered 12 headstones marked with swastikas and other symbols after Horn used black paint to deface multiple gravestones in July 2023, according to the accounts of his plea.

The reports describe the legal charge in different terms. The Dundalk Eagle says Horn pleaded guilty to religious vandalism charges, while The Baltimore Banner describes the plea as damaging religious property. The New York Post calls the charges hate crime and vandalism, but its account also says Horn pleaded guilty to damaging religious property.

The descriptions should not be treated as identical: the documented plea is for damaging religious property, while the New York Post characterizes the charges more broadly. Horn was 36 and from Dundalk. The Baltimore Banner reports that some headstones required extensive cleaning and two had to be replaced.

According to the plea agreement, the work cost the Jewish Cemetery Association of Greater Baltimore more than $6,500, and Horn agreed to pay for the damage. The accounts also describe evidence associated with Horn. The Dundalk Eagle and the New York Post report that his phone contained a nine-second video showing him spray-painting two gravestones.

Both also report that a translated copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was on his phone. The New York Post additionally says prosecutors reported antisemitic paraphernalia in his car and storage unit, while the Dundalk Eagle says items included a journal with references to Nazism and white supremacy.

The cemetery is in Dundalk and dates to the late 19th century, according to the Dundalk Eagle and The Baltimore Banner. That detail situates the damage at a long-established cemetery, but the central consequence described in the plea agreement is the cost of cleaning and replacing the affected headstones. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox set Horn’s sentencing for Jan.

14, 2027, according to the Dundalk Eagle. The New York Post also reports that sentencing is scheduled for that date. The sentencing proceeding is the next specified court step; the accounts do not state what sentence prosecutors will seek or what sentence the judge will impose.