A student holds the hand of the James Meredith statue during a protest at the University of Mississippi last Tuesday. Photo: Thomas Graning, The Daily Mississippian.
The student judicial process began Friday to determine possible university punishment for three students suspected of involvement in desecrating the James Meredith statue last week. As of Sunday evening, the students had not been charged with any crime. However, the student judicial process can occur even without criminal charges filed against the suspects.
“No official university action has taken place regarding suspension or expulsion of the students involved,” UM Communications Director Blanton said. “The process of determining whether the students violated the university conduct policy is definitely underway, and we believe it will move pretty quickly.”
The FBI took complete control of the investigation on Friday, and the University Police Department will assist in the investigation.
“We reached out to the FBI to assist us when we first learned about this,” Blanton said. “Now, they have basically switched roles. UPD is assisting the FBI with the investigation.”
The FBI was unavailable for comment Sunday.
The three suspects were freshman members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Ole Miss. The fraternity was indefinitely suspended by the Sig Ep national headquarters Friday and asked that all fraternity activities cease, according to a Sig Ep press release.
“I learned about their involvement on Wednesday afternoon,” Sig Ep President Jeremy Smith said. “By Wednesday night, the chapter had voted to expel all three (from the fraternity), and we reported the information to the university and authorities.”
An anonymous source gave The DM the names of the three suspects believed to be involved, but The DM has not been able to confirm the names. When contacted on Sunday, Blanton, Smith, University Police Chief Calvin Sellers and ASB Judicial Chair Harrison Crabtree said they could neither confirm nor deny the names.
Follow @thedm_news and theDMonline.com for any developing information during the day.
— Adam Ganucheau
dmeditor@gmail.com
