Kennedi Grant, 20

Update, Thursday, March 24: Grant is now scheduled to appear before a judge on April 22. Grant’s attorney, Cooper Overstreet, says Grant missed her scheduled arraignment on Tuesday because she was out of town for spring break and did not receive the court summons sent to her.

Missed court appearances can result in the issuance of an arrest warrant, but before that could happen Grant appeared before a judge and scheduled a status hearing, Overstreet said.

“Essentially where we’re at in the process right now is just in the review process of the police report and discovery,” he said.

Original report below:

A Kansas University student and former leader of KU’s Black Student Union who recently accused police of racial discrimination did not appear in Lawrence Municipal Court Tuesday morning for an arraignment on drug charges.

Kennedi Grant, 20, was arrested Feb. 5 on suspicion of possession of marijuana, a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

Grant was released from the Douglas County Jail shortly after her arrest when she posted a $5,000 bond. Her first appearance in Douglas County District Court was canceled after the case was referred to Lawrence Municipal Court.

Now Grant, 20, faces one misdemeanor charge each of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to a criminal complaint filed in Lawrence Municipal Court.

An arraignment, where a judge would formally read her charges and she would be allowed the chance to enter a plea, was scheduled for Grant on Tuesday; however, she did not appear in court.

Municipal Court Judge Scott Miller said that when people miss their arraignment typically their case is examined to ensure the date was scheduled in a fair manner before a warrant is issued for their arrest. The process can often take several days, he said.

In November of last year Grant, then-president of KU’s Black Student Union, and a group of students calling themselves Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk interrupted KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and others as they spoke about race at a KU town hall forum. The group issued a list of diversity-related demands.

Grant, who identified herself as Kynnedi Grant to the Journal-World, said on the stage she and several of her friends were verbally and physically assaulted at an off-campus house party on Halloween, called racial slurs and had a gun pulled on them. She accused Lawrence police of failing to investigate the incident because she and her friends are black.

A police report was filed regarding the incident. That case remains under investigation, Lawrence Police Sgt. Trent McKinley said.

Grant has no prior criminal record in Douglas County District Court.

I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.