Amid ongoing protests over racial injustice in response to the murder or George Floyd, authorities in Alabama are investigating a cross-burning similar to those used by the Ku Klux Klan to rally supporters and terrorize black people.
Motorist John Bolton captured video of the burning cross Thursday night after he noticed it on an overpass near Macon while traveling on Interstate 85.
“Two young men headed to Montgomery, and I, headed to Auburn, saw it as soon as it was set on fire,” Bolton told WRBL-TV. “We pulled over immediately and started running towards it. It looked like a shadow began to run away as we were approaching. We were the first on the scene. I called 911 as one of the guys climbed up to the bridge to knock the cross down. The first officer arrived a few minutes later. The officer, the two young men, and I all climbed up to the bridge in order to put out the fire at that time. About five more officers and a female all arrived a few minutes later. Once the fires were extinguished, we could see that there were three total – a cross, a burning tire, and a fuel canister.”
More from WRBL: Sheriff [Andre} Brunson says the fire remains under investigation, and at this point, there are no suspects. If you have any information on the fire you are asked to please call the Macon County Sheriff's Office. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the image of the burning cross is one of the most potent hate symbols in the United States, popularized as a terror image by the Ku Klux Klan since the early 1900s.
