A University of Missouri professor was charged with assault Monday for her confrontational actions against a student journalist covering the flagship university’s November protests, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The charges, filed by Columbia City Prosecutor Stephen Richey, stem from a viral video that showed assistant professor Melissa Click asking for “some muscle” to remove a videographer working for the school newspaper from the protesters’ enclave on the campus’ Carnahan Quadrangle. The protesters tried to ban media from their encampment, even though it was located in a public space.
Months-long protests against racial injustices on campus came to a head in November, when graduate student Jonathan Butler went on a hunger strike and the football team said they would not play until Timothy Wolfe, the university system president, resigned.
The student videographer had filed a compliant with campus police, which was then forwarded to the Columbia City prosecutor, according to the Post-Dispatch. The assault charge against Click, a misdemeanor, is punishable with a $300 fine and up to 15 days in jail.
Click is a communications professor whose “courtesy title” at Mizzou’s fabled journalism school was revoked last year, according to local TV station KQFX.
The TV station also reported that more than 100 state lawmakers signed a letter calling for Click’s dismissal in early January.
