UPDATE>> FBI Expands Investigation To Establish Hate Crime

In an email HottyToddy.com received from the FBI this afternoon, Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the University Police Department, will expand the investigation of the desecration of the statute of James Meredith, commemorating the integration of the University of Mississippi, for potential violations of federal law.   Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call the FBI at (601) 948-5000.
Hotty Toddy.com has learned that three 19-year-old Ole Miss students, all from Georgia, have admitted hanging a noose around the neck of the statue of James Meredith.
UM police confirmed the students, all freshmen, have been kicked out of their campus fraternity.
University officials said the University Police findings have been turned over to the District Attorney.
Earlier this week the FBI told HottyToddy.com that they were involved in the case attempting to determine if the defilement of the Meredith statue fit the federal guidelines for a “Hate Crime.”
 
Those determinations may be a factor delaying the arrest of the three students who were no-shows at a scheduled meeting with  police on Thursday. Authorities then determined that the students were being represented by an attorney who advised them not to talk to police until they were charged.
In addition to hanging the noose, the students are suspected of draping a pre-2003 Georgia state flag featuring the confederate stars and bars around the statue’s shoulders.