FBI investigating white South Carolina couple accused of burning cross to harass black neighbors

The FBI is investigating a white South Carolina couple who allegedly burned a cross just steps away from their black neighbors’ home in a shocking act of racism.

Federal agents searched the Conway home of Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett Wednesday morning as part of “an ongoing criminal civil rights investigation involving allegations of racial discrimination,” the agency said.

The pair were arrested late last month for allegedly erecting the cross and setting it on fire in the Grand Strand over Thanksgiving weekend, WMBF reported.

Hartnett even continued her racist tirade while cops showed up at the scene and was captured on bodycam footage “repeatedly using a racial slur” toward her neighbors, according to a police report obtained by WPDE.

Following the cross-burning, Butler posted threatening notes on Facebook and leaked the victims’ address by posting a photo of their mailbox.

He also wrote that he was “summoning the devil’s army and I don’t care if they and I both go down in the same boat” and “I’m about to make them pay” about the victims, the report states.

Butler, 28, was charged with second-degree harassment while Hartnett, 27, was charged with second-degree harassment and third-degree assault. Both were booked and released within a day after posting bail — $500 for Butler and $5,500 for Hartnett, according to online jail records.

The victims of the racist attack, Shawn and Monica Williams, said the firey cross facing their property was the final straw in an ongoing pattern of racist harassment from their next-door neighbors since the black couple moved into their retirement home in the neighborhood about two years ago.

“There was a cross burning about 8 feet from our fence,” Monica told WMBF. “We were speechless because we’ve never experienced something like that.”

The couple has also been called racial slurs and threatened bodily harm by their neighbors, they said.

“He’s blatant with the ‘N-word,’” Monica said of Butler, who has at least five prior arrests for assault and disorderly conduct. “He chased off our surveyors. He’s chased off people from the water and sewer department.”

They fear for their safety, saying their neighbors’ harassment is getting more frequent and more threatening and don’t believe the arrests are enough.

“They were out the next day,” Monica said. “So now, what are we to do? Live next to a cross-burning racist who’s threatened to cause us bodily harm. We feel that not enough laws are in place to deal with this, and there needs to be some accountability.”

South Carolina is one of just two states in the nation without a hate crime law.

The cross-burning incident has rocked the community and revitalized the fight to get such a law passed.

“I dealt with this kind of stuff back in 1950 and I was really stunned to know that this kind of stuff is still going on in Horry County,” Interim President of the NAACP Conway chapter Dr. Kenneth Floyd told the local station.

The NAACP has since launched its own investigation into the incident, which the Williamses captured on video.

NAACP members told WMBF that the racist attack has renewed the efforts to get a hate crime law passed in South Carolina.

A hate crime bill has made it through the South Carolina State House but stalled on the Senate floor in the past three years, according to the local station.

Even the 2015 mass shooting of nine black worshippers by a white supremacist at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston could not get the law passed.

“In these days and times, we don’t expect things like that to happen. It’s really appalling; the Emanuel Nine should have set the precedent for a hate crime law,” said Marvin Neal, 3rd vice president of the South Carolina State Conference NAACP.

“We thought we were on the road in that direction when that happened, but here we are again.”

The FBI is working with the US Attorney’s Office and local and state partners to investigate the racially-motivated harassment, according to a statement.

“We have also been in communication with local community organizations to understand their concerns surrounding this matter and to emphasize our commitment to fostering trust and accountability,” the statement said.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, additional details cannot be provided, but rest assured, we are dedicated to this matter and the civil rights of all Americans.”

The Horry County Police Department also issued a statement reiterating its commitment to the case, calling the actions of Butler and Harnett “appalling and unacceptable.”

“Such hate and harassment will not be tolerated in Horry County,” Chief Joseph Hill said. “The individuals responsible will be held accountable for their actions and the hurt they have caused the victims and the greater Horry County community.”