Harris pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of threatening force to intimidate African-American students and employees at the university after prosecutors agreed to drop a stiffer felony charge in exchange. Prosecutors said in June that another former student, Graeme Phillip Harris, hatched the plan to place the noose and flag on the statue after a night of drinking with Edenfield and a third freshman in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on campus.
He integrated the university in 1962 amid rioting that was suppressed by federal troops. A noose and a former Georgia state flag with a Confederate battle emblem were placed on the Ole Miss statue of James Meredith. Attorney Robert Norman said in a June court hearing that Edenfield took part in the February 2014 incident. Edenfield’s lawyer hasn’t responded to requests for comment.Īssistant U.S.
People typically agree to waive indictment and plead guilty in federal court as part of a plea bargain. The filing doesn’t indicate what charge Edenfield faces. Edenfield had been scheduled to plead guilty in September, but Mills delayed that court date for reasons that haven’t been publicly explained. Suspect in Ole Miss student's death pleads guilty to murderĪ former University of Mississippi student is scheduled to plead guilty Thursday to placing a noose on the University of Mississippi’s statue of its first black student.Ī federal court filing shows that Austin Reed Edenfield is scheduled to waive indictment and plead guilty to a criminal charge before U.S. Ole Miss softball coach accused of tryst with student recently married Lane Kiffin has humorous reaction to daughter's shopping spree Two people died and several were injured in the conflict.Wild Ole Miss-LSU double overtime brawl ends in three ejections James Meredith enrolled at Ole Miss in 1962, in the face of a protest that required intervention from federal authorities. Members have been banned from throwing parties, and will lose their house at the end of the semester.Īccording to Sigma Phi's national chapter, the frat has very little chance of returning to Ole Miss before its current members graduate. The chapter has been open since 1987, and was previously investigated in 2010. "The closure is not a result of what happened with the Meredith statue, but the Meredith statue precipitated the intensive review of how they conduct business," a spokesman said. Officially, the chapter was suspended for these violations, not the faux-lynching of a significant black figure from the university's history. In the wake of the noose incident, a review of the 130-member chapter uncovered repeated incidents of underage drinking and hazing. The statue wasn't actually damaged, so prosecutors aren't pursuing vandalism charges. No state charges are forthcoming, said the Lafayette County district attorney, because Mississippi's hate crime laws only apply when there's a separate underlying crime. The school is pursuing disciplinary action against the students, according to an Ole Miss spokesman. The three students responsible, who are all from Georgia, have been kicked out of the fraternity, CBS News reported. A fraternity chapter at the University of Mississippi has been shut down after three members hung a noose around the neck of a statue of James Meredith, the university's first-ever black student.Ī pre-2003 Georgia state flag, featuring the Confederate battle emblem, was also draped over the statue's face.Īfter an investigation, Sigma Phi Epsilon has decided to close its Ole Miss chapter, the University said Thursday.
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