The Latest on a former University of Mississippi student who was charged with placing a noose on a statue of the school’s first black student:
11:55 a.m.
A former University of Mississippi student is pleading guilty to placing a noose on the statue of the school’s first black student.
Austin Reed Edenfield waived indictment Thursday and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge before a federal judge in Oxford. The charge said Edenfield helped others threaten force to intimidate African-American students and university employees.
Edenfield admitted taking part in a February 2014 incident during which a noose and a former Georgia state flag with the Confederate battle emblem were placed on an Ole Miss statue of James Meredith. Another man pleaded guilty last year to a similar misdemeanor.
The judge will sentence Edenfield July 21. He faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, but the government is recommending probation.
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4:15 a.m.
A former University of Mississippi student is scheduled to plead guilty Thursday to placing a noose on a statue of a civil rights activist.
Federal court filings show Austin Reed Edenfield is scheduled to waive indictment and plead guilty before a federal judge in Oxford.
The judge delayed a September plea hearing set for Edenfield.
Records don’t show what charge Edenfield faces, but a prosecutor said in June that Edenfield participated in the February 2014 incident. A noose and a former Georgia state flag with a Confederate battle emblem were placed on an Ole Miss statue of James Meredith. Another man has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Edenfield’s lawyer hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
Meredith became the university’s first black student in 1962, amid violence quelled by federal troops.
