A former student of the University of Mississippi pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal civil-rights crime, acknowledging that he and another man had tied a noose and a Confederate flag around the neck of a statue honoring the black man who integrated the state’s flagship university. Austin Reed Edenfield of Kennesaw, Ga., waived indictment and pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of using a threat of force to intimidate African American students and employees because of their race or color, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release. Edenfield admitted that he knew the rope and flag would be threatening and intimidating to black students.