A New Holland man who reportedly posted videos and pictures of himself inside the U.S. Capitol on Facebook during the Jan. 6 breaching of the building was arrested on Monday, according to a federal affidavit.
On Jan. 7 and 8, the FBI received multiple tips indicating James Matthew Horning was inside the U.S. Capitol during the deadly insurrection by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Horning was indicted by a federal grand jury and faces charges of knowingly entering a restricted building without the authority to do so and with the intent “to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government” and knowingly engaging in “disorderly or disruptive conduct” with the intent to disrupt a session of Congress.
Horning claimed he smoked a joint on the Capitol steps and went to the Capitol to “intimidate Congress,” according to the affidavit. Several of his social media posts taunted law enforcement.
On Jan. 7, a witness contacted and provided the FBI with a video the witness had seen on social media, according to the criminal complaint. The individual who posted the video included the caption “in case you ever wandered (sic) who my father is,” and the video allegedly shows Horning wearing a bright orange-colored beanie style hat and a turquoise-colored bandana around his neck.
The complaint says that Horning took “a selfie style video of himself smoking an unknown substance and saying ‘(Expletive) it, smoking a joint on the Capitol steps right now.’ The account that posted the video has a username that, according to open source records, is the first name of a daughter of Horning.”
On Jan. 8, a second witness, who said he has known Horning since high school, contacted the FBI and indicated Horning was one of the protesters inside the U.S. Capitol.
A screen shot provided to the FBI from the “Matt Horning” Facebook account was a post comment on the events of Jan. 6. It said, “To anyone on my list who has a problem with what happened in DC today.. I am damn proud I was there.”
According to the complaint, a fourth screen shot that a witness provided to the FBI from the “Matt Horning” Facebook account was a post depicting a text conversation between an individual named Matt Horning and another Facebook user. The other Facebook user asked Horning, “I’m curious why you went to DC: just a show or actual intent to violently overthrow the election? Legit question.”
Horning replied, “3 reasons… to be there when history happens. To participate in anarchy. To smoke weed in government buildings…..The real reason was to intimidate congress.. they have a 9% approval rating. We accomplished that. Maybe they will work on that because they know we could have got them and have mercy.”
According to the affidavit, a USCP security camera located just inside the Upper West Terrace door at the U.S. Capitol captured Horning entering the building at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 6.
More than 250 federal cases have been brought against individuals who allegedly took part in or helped plot the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
