Graeme Harris, former Ole Miss student charged with desecration of James Meredith statue. (Courtesy: Facebook)
The Justice Department has charged Graeme Phillip Harris, a former University of Mississippi student, with federal civil rights crimes for placing a noose and a former Georgia state flag exhibiting the Confederate stars and bars on the statue of James Meredith. Federal officials cited the incident as a blatant attempt to threaten black students and employees on campus.
“This shameful and ignorant act is an insult to all Americans and a violation of our most strongly-held values,” Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said in a statement Friday. “No one should ever be made to feel threatened or intimidated because of what they look like or who they are. By taking appropriate action to hold wrongdoers accountable, the Department of Justice is sending a clear message that flagrant infringements of our historic civil rights will not go unnoticed or unpunished.”
The incident, which occurred in February 2014, sparked an investigation by the FBI and the University Police Department. UPD initially reported that three white male freshmen were sought for questioning regarding the statue’s desecration.
“It’s taken a while but finally an indictment has been handed down,” UPD Chief Calvin Sellers told The DM Friday. “This doesn’t mean he’s guilty of anything, but it means this jury of people saw enough evidence to say, ‘Yes, we think you may have committed this crime.’”
Sellers said he was unable to disclose the depositions of the other suspects.
Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students because of their race or color.
The accused has since transferred to the University of North Georgia – Oconee Campus. Following the incident, the chapter of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, was closed by national headquarters at the Ole Miss campus.
“If you go back a year ago, our university was just violated, hurt. There was so much pain,” said Brandi Hephner Labanc, vice chancellor for student affairs. “There were students and families who were fearful of their safety on campus. It took us a while to get here but, to the credit of our university police department, and the collaborative efforts of UPD, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we’ve arrived.”
When Briana O’Neil, president of The University of Mississippi Black Student Union, initially heard that charges had been filed against Harris she felt a sense of “relief.”
“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” O’Neil said. “It just goes to show that you can’t do hateful things at The University of Mississippi and get away with it. We don’t tolerate that kind of behavior at Ole Miss.”
Correl Hoyle, senior psychology major who has sat at the Meredith statue every day since the incident, shared similar emotions.
“Racism is a huge part of our country. Hate in general is a huge part of this world,” Hoyle said. “We can either learn from it and better ourselves or we can keep ourselves in an ignorant and dark age.
“I’m hoping that (Harris’) mistake teaches other people that hate is not OK anymore.”
Kylie McFadden and Clara Turnage contributed to this report.
