{"id":12973,"date":"2015-06-19T15:10:22","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T22:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12973"},"modified":"2015-06-19T15:30:55","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T22:30:55","slug":"man-pleads-guilty-to-threatening-and-intimidating-black-mississippi-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12973","title":{"rendered":"Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening and Intimidating Black Mississippi Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Graeme<\/a>
Statue of James Meredith and Graeme Phillip Harris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Graeme Phillip Harris<\/strong> admitted to joining with others to use the cover of darkness to hang a rope and and an outdated version of the Georgia state flag \u2014 which prominently depicts the Confederate battle flag \u2014 around the neck of the statue, officials said.<\/p>\n

Officials said the intent in doing this was to threaten and intimidate African-American students and employees at the university, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

The iconic statue honors Meredith\u2019s role as the university\u2019s first African-American student after its contentious 1962 integration. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reprehensible actions of the defendant evoke painful memories of a shameful period in our past when some American citizens were subjected to threats and intimidation by lynching solely because of the color of their skin,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams of the Northern District of Mississippi.<\/strong> \u201cAttempts to categorize the defendant\u2019s offense conduct as a mere college prank only serve as a hollow denial of our collective history and a repudiation of the legacy of those who fought to obtain and preserve our historic civil rights.”<\/p>\n

Adding<\/strong>, “The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, in conjunction with the DOJ Civil Rights Division, will aggressively prosecute hate crimes and other civil rights violations which occur in our district. I sincerely appreciate the assistance of the FBI and the University of Mississippi in the investigation and prosecution of this case.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Harris plead guilty Thursday.<\/p>\n

Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 27 on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students because of their race or color, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not tolerate threats of racial violence intended to intimidate students and university employees,\u201d said \u00a0Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division.<\/strong> \u201cNo one should have to endure threats or intimidation at our nation\u2019s universities because of their race or the color of their skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat these individuals did was not a prank,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI Jackson, Mississippi, Division.<\/strong> \u201cIt was an intentional effort to belittle and intimidate persons of a particular race, and was exactly the type of action the federal civil rights statutes were enacted to prevent. The FBI is committed to the protection of the civil rights of all citizens and will continue to investigate allegations of crime motivated by hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by the FBI Jackson Division\u2019s Oxford Resident Agency and the University of Mississippi Police Department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON   Graeme Phillip Harris admitted to joining with others to use the cover of darkness to hang a rope and and an outdated version of the Georgia state flag \u2014 which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1437],"class_list":["post-12973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-james-meredith-statue"],"yoast_head":"\nMan Pleads Guilty to Intimidating Mississippi Students<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Man pleads guilty to intimidating Mississippi students and employees\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12973\" \/>\n<meta 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