Photo: Horry County Sheriff's Office
A South Carolina man and woman were thrown in jail after they were accused of hurling racial slurs at their neighbors and erecting a burning cross. According to arrest reports obtained by WBTW, Alexis Paige Hartnett and Worden Evander Butler, both of Conway, were arrested in connection to a slew of incidents in late November.
Horry County police allege Hartnett and Butler committed several horrendous acts between November 23 and November 24 on Corbett Drive, targeting a victim and their family who has a second home in the neighborhood. The arrest report noted one instance where the duo allegedly put up a cross facing the victim's home and set it on fire.
Hartnett allegedly referenced killing a Black woman in the past, belted racist language, and even threatened the victim's family, the warrants state. Even while speaking with officers, the woman kept using racial slurs toward the victims, documents state.
Butlet was accused of sharing the couple's location on Facebook, writing in a post that he was "summoning the devil’s army and I don’t care if they and I both go down in the same boat,” according to police.
"I’m about to make them pay,” the post allegedly reads. “They come on holidays to start a fight with me.”
Both Hartnett and Butler were charged with second-degree harassment, while Hartnett got an additional charge of third-degree assault and battery. Online jail records show they were both booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center on November 30 and released the next day.
South Carolina is one of two states without hate crime laws. The latest incident has renewed calls for state legislators to implement a hate crime bill.
The NAACP South Carolina State Conference of Branches issued a statement to WBTW on the incident:
“Citizens cannot turn a blind eye to the prevalence of racial discrimination and hate crimes. These heinous acts not only harm individuals but also spread intolerance and division, tearing apart the fabric of our society," the statement reads in part. "The NAACP South Carolina State Conference of Branches urgently calls for the implementation of a hate crime bill in South Carolina. It is unacceptable that our state is one of the few without such a statute, leaving criminals who commit these atrocious acts to roam free and continue to prey on, the family that is being threatened and harrassed to include all communities of color."
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