OXFORD, Miss. — 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 a Ole Miss statue of James Meredith.
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.
Graeme Phillip Harris was sentenced to six months in prison and 12 months’ supervised release.
Harris pleaded guilty in June, 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees.
