Video: Plea Entered In Statue case

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OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – A former University of Mississippi student has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from a noose placed on a statu of civil rights activist James Meredith.

Graeme Phillip Harris pleaded guilty Thursday to using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees at the university.

The noose and a former Georgia state flag with the Confederate battle emblem were placed on the James Meredith statue on the Ole Miss campus in Oxford in February 2014.

Harris, of Alpharetta, Georgia, face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Prosecutors say they will drop a second charge from a March indictment – conspiracy to violate civil rights.

Lawyer David Hill says Harris wanted to take responsibility for his actions. Violent protests over Meredith’s 1962 admission killed two.