Feb. 18 into an incident at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., after two vandals placed a noose around the neck of a bronze statue of James Meredith, the first African American to attend the school. Two men were heard yelling racial slurs early on Feb. 16 after the statue was defiled.
A man working at the university said he saw two White men dressed in camouflage pants at the statue. The worker, identified in news reports as Mark McMillan, said he saw a noose around the neck of the statue and that the sculpture was also draped with an old Georgia flag bearing the confederate battle symbol, according to ClarionLedger.com.
Dozens of students took part in a protest for inclusion and tolerance, carrying signs and sometimes joining hands.
The university is offering a reward of $25,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the culprits.