A Spartanburg woman took down her Halloween decorations this week after a man confronted her at her home and an online post about the display led to death threats against her, according to the Spartanburg Police Department. Officers responded to a reported harassment incident on South Fairview Avenue on Wednesday and spoke with the woman at her home.
According to the woman's account, a man knocked on her door and insulted her over decorations hanging upside down in her front yard that depicted figures wrapped in black trash bags and duct tape. As reported by FOX Carolina, the man used a megaphone from his car to yell at her to take the decorations down. The woman agreed, but told police she needed assistance because she had recently had leg surgery — she ultimately removed the props herself using a ladder, per the police report.
The woman said she had displayed similar decorations in the past and that hundreds of trick-or-treaters from all backgrounds had visited. She told officers she plans not to put the decorations back up.
An Online Post Turned a Doorstep Dispute Into Death Threats
The confrontation didn't stay contained to the front yard. The woman learned from a coworker that the man had posted about her decorations online, according to the police report, and she subsequently began receiving death threats tied to his characterization of the display. The station notes it is still working to obtain a photo of the decorations.
The episode fits a pattern researchers have flagged around digital pile-ons sparked by local disputes. A Pew Research Center study cited by Lauren Taylor Law found that 41% of Americans have experienced online harassment ranging from name-calling to severe threats and cyberstalking — a dynamic that mirrors what unfolded after the man's post reached a wider audience than the original yard dispute ever would have on its own.
What South Carolina Law Says About Threats and Harassment
Hanging body-bag props are a recurring flashpoint nationally. Newsweek reported in 2019 that outdoor displays featuring hanging figures or trash-bag-wrapped bodies regularly draw police complaints and public backlash because of their resemblance to lynchings or graphic violence. In Bowie, Maryland, residents raised concerns over a neighbor's decoration showing a corpse wrapped in a garbage bag hanging upside down from a tree, and in Kentucky, a resident was arrested after setting up a body-bag display labeling local officials, including a figure marked “District Judge.”
Under South Carolina law, stalking is addressed under S.C. Code § 16-3-1700, while second-degree harassment is addressed under § 16-3-1710. Separately, S.C. Code § 16-17-430 makes communicating threats or harassing messages by phone or electronic means a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and fines up to $500, according to Justia Law.
The Spartanburg Police Department, which patrols a city of more than 37,000 residents in Upstate South Carolina, has not announced charges in connection with the incident.
The dispute arrives as Spartanburg officials are already revisiting rules governing residential properties citywide. The city has been rewriting its 35-year-old zoning code this month, though that effort centers on land use and neighborhood character rather than the kind of behavioral complaint at the heart of this case.
