Mar 28, 2015 11:41 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A man has been indicted on federal charges stemming from an incident more than a year ago in which a noose and a Confederate-era Georgia flag was found on the University of Mississippi's statue of James Meredith.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the indictment of Graeme Phillip Harris, a former Ole Miss student from Alpharetta, Ga., in a news release Friday. He is charged with "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."

In Feb. 2014, Ole Miss woke up to a noose around the Meredith statue's neck and an old Georgia state flag that prominently featured the Confederate symbol draped over. Meredith was the first black person to attend Ole Miss and his statue stands on the Oxford campus to commemorate him.

Now 81 years old, Meredith told the Associated Press he was disappointed it took the federal government to prosecute this case.

"What it is saying is that the only possible justice for a black in the state of Mississippi is the federal government and if there's anything that we don't need it's that being our only means of expecting justice," he said. "I think Mississippi is better than that. If it's not better than that, it should be made better than that."

The Justice Department stressed they are still investigating the case, but condemned the act itself nonetheless.

"This shameful and ignorant act is an insult to all Americans and a violation of our most strongly-held values," Attorney General Eric Holder said in the release. "No one should ever be made to feel threatened or intimidated because of what they look like or who they are. By taking appropriate action to hold wrongdoers accountable, the Department of Justice is sending a clear message that flagrant infringements of our historic civil rights will not go unnoticed or unpunished."

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