The increase of hate crimes against the Black community has been an ongoing concern. Though, to me, the most despicable aspect of the spike is that some of the most hateful acts used to threaten Black people during the Jim Crow era have now resurfaced.

Axel C. Cox, 24, certainly took inspiration from history when he attempted to terrorize his Black next door neighbors.

According to the DOJ, Cox admitted to gathering his supplies to put together a cross, propping it on his yard and dousing it in motor oil to set it on fire.

He pleaded guilty to burning a cross on his front lawn to intimidate his Black neighbors, per a Department of Justice announcement. The DOJ said he violated the Fair Housing Act and committed a hate crime as he used “racially derogatory remarks” during the commission of the crime.

The only argument in his defense was that he had “overreacted” following the fatal shooting of his dog, per the SunHerald. Were the Black people next door the ones responsible? There is no evidence so far of that.

Source: Man Pleads Guilty to Burning Cross on His Yard to Threaten Black Neighbors