Mississippi Man Charged After Burning Cross To Scare Black Neighbors Pleads Guilty To Federal Hate Crime

MISSISSIPPI- A racist man has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after burning a cross to scare his black neighbors, according to the Department of Justice.

Axel C. Cox, 24, admitted to assembling a wooden cross and putting it in front of his yard where his black neighbors could see. He also spewed racially derogatory language at them, court documents state, according to Yahoo News.

He also doused the cross and set it on fire. Cox admitted to lighting the cross on fire because of the race of his neighbors.

A jury indicted him in September.

The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups have burned crosses in a way to intimidate blacks and Jewish people.

Cox will be sentenced in March of 2023, and he faces up to 10 years in prison.