By Associated Press
Centreville, AL – Centreville's mayor is facing charges of harassment and disorderly conduct after being accused of threatening to burn a cross in the yard of a city councilwoman.
Mayor Dalton Murphy turned himself in Wednesday, posted $500 bail on each misdemeanor charge and spent no time behind bars.
Councilwoman Linda Renn-Pierce, who is white, says during the council meeting Tuesday, Murphy threatened to burn a cross in her yard. The two were arguing about the firing of three black city workers.
Murphy, who is white, says he fired the workers because they were not watering plants in the town square.
Renn-Pierce says that was not true and that the mayor frequently uses the N-word and talks about his Ku Klux Klan meetings. Murphy declined comment.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)