Mississippi man gets hate crime charge in cross burning

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — A Mississippi man has been charged with a federal hate crime, accused of burning a cross in his front yard to threaten his Black neighbors. The U.S. Justice Department said 23-year-old Axel Cox chose to burn a cross in front of a Black family because of their race. He also allegedly addressed the family with racially derogatory language. A grand jury indicted Cox in September. The Gulfport, Mississippi, man is accused of violating his neighbors’ housing rights. Cox is being held without bond pending a Nov. 7 jury trial. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.