A Missouri professor who was caught on video blocking a student journalist from capturing footage of a protest has apologized for her actions.
Last November, several students, professors and concerned citizens held protests over alleged racial incidents on the Columbia campus. Melissa Click was suspended from her duties following the confrontation, and many called for her to be fired from the university.
“I certainly wish I hadn’t done anything that was worthy of being in a viral video,” Click told Fox 2. “I wish I could take it back.”
Click called for “some muscle” to remove a student videographer from the protest area on campus, but said she never meant to promote violence. Click also cited a lack of police presence during the protest.
“I didn’t see any police present on campus that day. And when I saw President Wolf’s email, I was really surprised to see that he had written that the FBI and Missouri Highway Patrol were involved. And then to think back about how MU students, staff and faculty were the only ones present on the quad to keep the crowd calm, I think that raises a lot of questions about who was in charge of the university, that day.”
Click, who contends the student videographer never identified himself, was charged with misdemeanor assault, but a Columbia, Missouri prosecutor says he will drop the matter if she completes community service.
The Concerned Student 1950 protest led to the resignation of then-President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin also stepped down from his post.
