Mississippi man sentenced to prison for cross burning

A Mississippi man was sentenced to 42 months in prison for intimidating his Black neighbors by burning a cross in their front yard, according to the Department of Justice.

Axel Cox, 24, was sentenced on Thursday, after pleading guilty to a federal hate crime and violating the Fair Housing Act in December, according to the Department of Justice. 

Cox said he built the cross to intimidate his Black neighbors and force them to move out of the neighborhood, the feds said. He built the cross by wedging two pieces of wood together, doused it in oil, and lit it in clear view of his neighbors while using threatening and racially derogatory language, said the Department of Justice.