Students Seen Posing With Guns in Front of Emmett Till Memorial Suspended

A trio of University of Mississippi students seen posing in front of a memorial for lynched civil rights icon Emmett Till have been suspended from their fraternity after their "offensive and hurtful" act, officials said Thursday.

According to a report from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica, one of the students posted the photo to his private Instagram account in March. In it, three students, two of whom are armed, can be seen standing in front of the memorial that marks the spot where Till's body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River in August, 1955. All three students attend Ole Miss and were members of the national fraternity Kappa Alpha until they were suspended this week once the report came out.

"The chapter has suspended the men in the photo," the students' national fraternity Kappa Alpha order said in a statement.

"The making of the photo was unrelated to any event or activity of our chapter. The chapter's leadership learned of the photo late last night. The photo is inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable. It does not represent our chapter. We have and will continue to be in communication with our national organization and the University."

Till, a 14-year-old black teenager born and raised in Chicago, was visiting family in the Mississippi area when a gang of white men kidnapped, tortured, and eventually murdered him in August of 1955. Photos published of Till's slaying and his subsequent funeral are widely credited for kicking off the civil rights movement.

Officials with Ole Miss said that while they back the fraternity's actions in suspended the three undergrads from the fraternity, the university does not have the power to take any disciplinary action against the students.

"While the image is offensive, it did not present a violation of university code of conduct. It occurred off campus and was not part of a university-affiliated event," Rod Guajardo, a campus spokesman told NBC News. "We support the actions made by the Kappa Alpha Order leadership in suspending the students involved, and we are aware that this decision is backed by its National Administrative Offices. We stand ready to assist the fraternity with educational opportunities for those members and the chapter."

Photo: Getty Images