The FBI raided the home of a white South Carolina couple as part of a criminal civil rights investigation. Black neighbors accused the pair of an “appalling” campaign of stalking, harassment and racial discrimination over two years.
Federal agents moved on the home Dec. 20 in Conway, about 30 minutes northwest of Myrtle Beach, after Alexis Hartnett, 27, and Worden Butler, 28, were arrested Nov. 30 by local authorities after they allegedly burned a cross on their lawn to scare off a retired Black couple who moved into the house next door two years earlier.
The FBI said the operation was “related to an ongoing criminal civil rights investigation involving allegations of racial discrimination,” according to FBI special agent Steve Jensen, who is leading the probe for the Columbia division of the bureau. “We are working jointly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as our local and state partners, to thoroughly examine this matter, and we’re dedicated to ensuring equality and fairness within our communities,” he said.
The Bureau has not revealed what if any evidence was collected at the residence.
Right now, Hartnett and Butler only face misdemeanor charges of second-degree harassment as a result of the alleged cross-burning incident on Thanksgiving weekend, but the racial component of their broader actions could ultimately lead to federal hate crime charges now that the FBI was involved.
Hartnett was also charged with third-degree assault, also a misdemeanor, although police have not yet explained what led to that count.
Hartnett and Butler posted bail and were released from jail the next day.
Less than a month later federal agents were at their front door.
The victims in the case were identified as Shawn and Monica Williams, previously of Myrtle Beach, who said they have endured a nonstop barrage of racist attacks since they moved next door to the couple in 2021.
“The N-word over and over, we need to get out of here, the whole bit,” Monica Williams told WCNC about her nightmarish experience so far in her new town. “It’s been traumatic for my whole family because they had to witness this.”
The police report in the cross-burning incident claims the white couple “harassed and stalked the victims with racially motivated words and actions” and that Butler screamed racial slurs toward the female neighbor “in reference to her being Black.”
Hartnett allegedly hurled more expletives and racial slurs toward the Black couple as police took statements from them, and she “continued this behavior even after being advised [by] officers to go back inside her home,” police said in the arrest report.
The report emphasized that the Black couple was growing more and more afraid for their safety as confrontations and other unprovoked incidents became “more frequent and threatening,” while the couple told news outlets that they felt powerless to do anything about it.
“So, what are we to do?” Monica Williams said. “Live next to a cross-burning racist who’s threatened to cause us bodily harm. We feel there are not enough laws in place to deal with this.”
As part of the harassment, Butler posted a picture of the victim’s mailbox on Facebook, doxxing the neighbor’s address alongside the message: “summoning the devil’s army and I don’t care if they and I both go down in the same boat,” police said.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Horry County Police Department Chief Joseph Hill called the allegations “appalling and unacceptable.”
“Such hate and harassment will not be tolerated in Horry County,” 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. In concert with our local and regional partners, we will pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law.”
Notably, South Carolina does not have a law against hate crimes after legislation supporting it stalled in the state Senate during the pandemic.
Since the incident in Conway, Local officials and the local NAACP have called for legislation to create more protections for minority citizens facing such incidents, including stronger criminal penalties for acts of hate.
