I hope he gets jail time, so he will think twice about his actions going forward.
The Justice Department has indicted a former Ole Miss student on civil rights charges after he allegedly hung a noose on a statue of his university’s first black student.
Graeme Phillip Harris, 20, of Alpharetta, Georgia, has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students.
The indictment is connected to a February 2014 incident in which a noose and a former Georgia flag, prominently featuring the Confederate battle emblem, were placed on a statue of James Meredith.
James Meredith, who integrated the University of Mississippi under federal protection a half-century ago, says it’s a shame that state authorities deferred to the federal government to bring charges.
Mr Meredith, who is 81 and lives in Jackson, said state authorities should have pursued charges.
‘What it is saying is that the only possible justice for a black in the state of Mississippi is the federal government and if there’s anything that we don’t need it’s that being our only means of expecting justice,’ Mr Meredith said in a phone interview Friday.
‘I think Mississippi is better than that. If it’s not better than that, it should be made better than that.’
Graham faces up to 11 years in jail and is currently free on bond.