Man gets second plea hearing over noose on Ole Miss statue

(AP) — A judge has set a second guilty plea hearing for a man federal prosecutors say placed a noose on the University of Mississippi's statue of its first black student.

A federal court filing shows that Austin Reed Edenfield is scheduled to waive indictment and plead guilty March 24 to a criminal charge before U.S. District Judge Michael Mills in Oxford.

Harris pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of threatening force to intimidate African-American students and employees at the university after prosecutors agreed to drop a stiffer felony charge in exchange.

After the noose and flag were placed on the statue on the night of Feb. 15, 2014, Norman said Harris and one of the other freshmen returned at sunrise on Feb. 16 to observe and were filmed by a video camera at the Ole Miss student union.