Push renewed for hate crime bill in South Carolina after cross burning

CONWAY, S.C. — Activists in South Carolina are pushing again for state leaders to pass a hate crime bill after a racist incident in Conway over Thanksgiving weekend, WPDE reports.

A retired Black couple took video of their young white neighbors burning a cross near their fence, pointed at their home. They told WPDE those neighbors, Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett, also yelled racial slurs at them.

Police charged Butler and Hartnett with assault and harassment, but not any hate crimes. That’s because South Carolina has no law against them.

“Join us and call on our elected officials to pass a hate crime bill,” Dr. Kenneth Floyd with the NAACP said in a press conference. “It was a cross on the 24th of November. What is going to be next? A rope or a bullet between the eyes?”

The FBI is investigating, so the couple could still be charged with a federal hate crime.

South Carolina is one of just two states without a hate crime law. The bill was previously approved by the House but failed to pass the Senate, WPDE reports. The bill also stalled in the Senate back in 2022.

(WATCH BELOW: Concord man faces federal charges, accused of hate crimes)