Effort to evict cross-burning suspects from home ‘government overreach,’ attorney says
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Attempts by Horry County’s top prosecutor to evict a homeowner at the center of a nationwide controversy following a late 2023 cross burning amounts to “government overreach,” according to newly filed court documents.
Christopher Helms, a Murrells Inlet-based lawyer, filed a motion Feb. 21 in Horry County Common Pleas Court asking a judge to toss Solictor Jimmy Richardson’s order that 29-year-old Worden Butler and his girlfriend Alexis Hartnett vacate a Corbett Drive home.
“Should it be the state’s position that Mr. Worden Butler himself is a nuisance, then the respondent contends this is an overreach and unfair classification based on a singular incident of conduct involving a singular neighbor,” Helms wrote.
On Jan. 25, Richardson asked an Horry County court to make the residence a public nuisance. The petition also pushes for a temporary injunction or restraining order that could remove its occupants.
If the property is deemed a nuisance, Horry County police would take possession of all the furniture, equipment, fixtures and other property used on the premises, documents show.
Butler and Hartnett, who are white, are facing misdemeanor charges of second-degree harassment after allegedly using racially abusive language toward their Black neighbors and lighting a cross on fire in their direction over Thanksgiving weekend.
In the weeks to follow, Shawn and Monica Williams spoke repeatedly with local and national media outlets about the incident.
They also attended a Statehouse news conference in January pressing lawmakers to adopt a hate crimes bill.
“This matter is before this honorable court because of the self-induced media attention that it has received,” Helms argued in his filing. “This media-seeking behavior has resulted in not only local, but national news coverage of a mentally disturbed man’s action, while omitting important context and details as media often does.”
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According to Helms’ motion, Butler has lived in the home owned by his mother since childhood, residing there independently and largely without incident for the last nine years until the harassment incident.
“Now, they’re using this case to make a point about South Carolina’s lack of a hate crime, and that’s fine,” Helms said. “There is a person, a defendant who they’re coming after — they’re charging, and I don’t even represent that person. I represent the property owner. But that person has rights too, and I would hate to see the government circumvent any of those rights to accomplish a goal or make a statement.”
News13 last week documented the frequent encounters both Butler and Hartnett have had with police stretching back to 2008.
About a month after the November cross-burning — on Dec. 20 — officers took a report from a news outlet that alleged a journalist had been assaulted while working at the Corbett Drive address.
During the incident, which was captured on video, Hartnett is heard saying “I’m a thug and I will f—— kill you.” and yelling other obscenities. Hartnett also allegedly threw a water bottle that hit a member of the news crew.
Helms said news reports of the alleged cross burning omitted context and key information “as media often does,” contributing to heightened tension and public animus against his client.
“As a result of the numerous interviews and public statements by these parties (the Williams’), fomented public outrage has pressured authorities to act outside of historical legal norms. This nuisance action is a prime example,” Helms wrote.
The documents also provide new details about why the FBI was at the home on Dec. 22.
Three days earlier, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Rogers III signed a federal search warrant to seize the following items:
two diaries
several phones
laptops and storage devices
pellet gun
charred piece of wood wrapped in cloth
black crossbow and bolt
3-foot long flat wood
soil samples
two white ropes
machete
gas gan “True Fuel” brand
pink rope
gas can
iPhone box
Richardson had not responded to Helms’ filing as of Feb. 28. He told News13 it would be “unfair to the defendant to comment on pending litigation.”
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here.
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