Mississippi man pleads guilty to burning cross in yard to intimidate Black family

Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said: ‘Burning a cross invokes the long and painful history, particularly in Mississippi, of intimidation and impending physical violence against Black people.’ Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

A Mississippi man pleaded guilty in federal court to burning a cross in his front yard with the intent to intimidate a Black family, the US justice department said.

Axel Cox, 24, of Gulfport in south Mississippi, mounted a wooden cross in his front yard on 2 December 2020, officials said. He then doused it with motor oil and lit it within view of his neighbors, who are Black.