JACKSON, Miss. – The Latest on student protests at the University of Mississippi (all times local):
8 p.m.
The University of Mississippi chancellor is condemning a student's online comment about lynching as "racist, offensive and hurtful."
Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter's statement came after he met privately Friday with other students who occupied the main administration building in Oxford to protest a Facebook comment from an account listed as belonging to a white student at Ole Miss. The Associated Press was not immediately able to confirm that the post was made by the student himself.
The comment responded to another student's post that criticized people protesting the police killing of a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Vitter had issued a statement earlier Friday criticizing social media comments that "suggest or condone actions" inconsistent with the university's core values. Black and white protesters said that wasn't strong enough.
After meeting with protesters, Vitter confirmed the lynching comment had come from an Ole Miss student. Vitter said: "There is no place in our community for racist or violent acts."
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5:20 p.m.
Witnesses say dozens of black and white students are occupying the University of Mississippi's main administrative building in Oxford to protest what they called the chancellor's weak response to a Facebook comment about lynching.
The comment was from an account listed as belonging to a white student. The Associated Press was not immediately able to confirm that the post was made by the student himself. The comment responded to another student's post that criticized the people protesting the police killing of a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The sit-in began Friday after Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter issued a statement criticizing social media comments that "suggest or condone actions" inconsistent with the university's core values.
Student protesters demanded that Vitter label the lynching comment as a "racist threat of domestic terrorism."
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