Myrtle Beach man arrested for allegedly littering hate messages in neighborhood

An Horry County man was arrested this week for allegedly littering hate messages across a Murrells Inlet neighborhood.

Jamin Christian Fite, 47, of Myrtle Beach, was arrested on Monday and charged with two counts of littering. He was released the same day after paying a $200 fine, according to jail records.

According to police records, an officer responded to the area of Seville Drive and Adare Court in reference to a suspect they were looking for who was actively littering in the neighborhood.

Officers allegedly found Fite parked in a black 2012 Honda Civic on the corner of Adare Court and Seville Drive, records say.

Officers observed the suspect throw a clear plastic baggie out of the passenger side window and proceeded to activate blue lights.

When confronted, the officer observed “black duffle bags containing a large quantity of clear plastic baggies with paper and pellets inside,” the incident report says.

The two black duffle bags contained about 791 plastic baggies, according to the report.

The report does not elaborate on the actual content of these messages. WBTW first reported that residents said the baggies contained hate messages.

The description matches the same fliers that have been found in several Horry County neighborhoods as well as across the country. Those messages were antisemitic in nature.

South Carolina is home to roughly 8,160 Jewish people — three-tenths of the state’s overall population. The state saw at least 54 acts of antisemitism between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022 according to an Anti-Defamation League heat map.

Law enforcement has frequently advised residents to throw the fliers away and to report the incidents.

This story was originally published July 6, 2023 at 12:40 PM.