Who is Axel Cox? Mississippi man, 24, can face 10 years in prison for burning a cross to scare a Black family
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI: A 24-year-old Mississippi man who left his Black neighbors terrified by burning a cross in his front yard, pled guilty in a Federal court on Thursday, December 1. Axel Cox, from Gulfport, admitted to using "racially derogatory" terms against the Black family and terrorizing them just because they started living next door.
Cox gathered supplies from his residence and put together a wooden cross in his front yard and propped it up so the said family could see it prior to dousing the cross with motor oil and setting it on fire. He later admitted he burned the cross because of the victims' race. Cox can face a maximum penalty of a decade behind bars and a fine of up to $250,000 for the crime, as per Daily Mail.
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"Burning a cross invokes the long and painful history, particularly in Mississippi, of intimidation and impending physical violence against black people," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, according to Daily Mail. "The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who use racially-motivated violence to drive people away from their homes or communities. The collaboration among the Gulfport Police Department, the FBI, the Civil Rights Division and our office brought this defendant to justice," said US Attorney Darren LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi, adding, "We will continue to work with and for the good people of Mississippi to eradicate such racist intimidation."
Cox signed a plea deal Thursday, December 1, after acknowledging that he violated the Fair Housing Act, designed to protect people from discrimination, authorities said on Friday, December 2. His sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2023.
Graham Williamson, 38, and Louie Bernard Revette, 37, were also convicted under the same act in the US District Court at Hattiesburg for burning a cross outside a Black family's home made out of household items in 2018. The hate crime has been historically associated with the Klu Klux Klan, who used cross burning as an intimidation tactic. The KKK last held a cross burning ceremony in Cedar Town, Mississippi, in 2016.