Harris gets six-month sentence for noose incident

Published 1:06 pm Thursday, September 17, 2015

A former University of Mississippi student was sentenced to six months in prison this morning for his role in a racially-charged incident on the Ole Miss campus in February when he and two others hung a rope and Confederate flag on the James Meredith statue on campus.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills orderedĀ Graeme Phillip Harris to report to prison on Jan. 4. After he serves the six months, he will spend one year on supervised probation. Mills also ordered Harris to perform 100 hours of community service.

Harris pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees. Prosecutors say he and two other former students placed a noose on the statue of James Meredith, a black man who integrated Ole Miss amid rioting in 1962.

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A second man, Austin Reed Edenfield, had been scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday. That hearing was continued. The third former student has not been charged.