The 27-year-old South Carolina woman accused of intimidating her Black neighbors by cross-burning last year was arrested again earlier this month.
Alexis Hartnett was charged with one count of obscene exposure after a neighbor claimed that she was openly doing “jumping jacks while topless” in the front yard of her home on March 2, WMBF reported. The man, who has kids, was able to capture it on video and showed it to Horry County police.
According to the report, Hartnett was taken into custody but was later released on bond. A judge placed her on house arrest and ruled she is prohibited from coming in contact with the neighbor who reported her.
The new charge comes in the midst of other legal troubles involving Hartnett and her boyfriend, Worden Butler. The couple is accused of placing a burning cross facing Shawn and Monica Williams’ property last November. The retirees said that the hate symbol was an escalation of the racism they experienced from both Hartnett and Butler, who are white.
“The N-word over and over, we need to get out of here, the whole bit,” Monica told WCNC. “It’s been traumatic for my whole family because they had to witness this.”
The couple was charged with second-degree harassment, while Hartnett was also hit with third-degree assault and battery. Their home was raided by the FBI just a few days before Christmas amid a civil rights investigation.
Two months later, in February, officials labeled them a “public nuisance” and filed a petition to force them to vacate the property for a year due to their alleged actions. Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson wrote in part that their “conduct… [is] offensive to public decency, morals, peace and health.”
Butler’s mother, who owns the home, requested to dismiss the temporary injunction, arguing that it’s “an overreach of government,” according to WMBF.
