‘Profound act of racial hatred’: Injunction signed in cross burning
CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) - A temporary injunction against a Conway-area couple accused of burning a cross to intimidate their Black neighbors last year is now official.
Judge William H. Seals, Jr. signed the order Wednesday, with it taking immediate effect. The order bans Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett from entering the home they lived at on Corbett Drive for one year.
The injunction was approved last week following a hearing.
Hartnett and Butler are accused of multiple incidents and police calls dating back nearly three years involving neighbors. Those calls include several different reports of alleged harassment and threats.
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Those complaints came to a head last November when the two allegedly burned a cross facing the home of their Black next-door neighbors.
In his order, Seals commented on the alleged incidents involving both Butler and Hartnett, calling the cross burning a “profound act of racial hatred.”
Seals ordered officers from the Horry County Police Department to post the injunction order at the home. Officers are also allowed to photograph the property and document its condition. Police will also wrap the area in evidence tape.
The order also bans Janet Butler, Worden’s mother who owned the property, from entering the home without permission from HD Capt. Danny Furr or HD Chief Joe Hill.
“Respondents Worden and Alexis used the property at 1400 Corbett Drive as a staging ground for the harassment and assault of their surrounding neighbors,” Seals wrote.
The order will expire in one year “or when a final order on the merits is entered, whichever comes first.”
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