The Volokh Conspiracy

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Volokh Conspiracy

'I need some muscle over here' Missouri prof Melissa Click charged with assault

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Erik Wemple here at The Post reports:

Melissa Click, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Missouri, has been charged with third-degree assault by the city of Columbia prosecutor's office, an assistant at that office confirmed today to the Erik Wemple Blog. The arrest comes months after Click was captured on video asking for "some muscle" to counter a student journalist at a November protest at the university. She also pushed the student journalist's camera….

Click's arrest, reported by ABC 17 News, comes amid debate in Missouri about her fitness to continue in her post. As reported by USA Today this month, more than 100 state Republican lawmakers have called for her to be fired. "The fact that, as a professor teaching in the communication department and school of journalism, she displayed such a complete disregard for the First Amendment rights of reporters should be enough to question her competency and aptitude for her job. It should be evident that these actions are inappropriate, illegal and unacceptable for a faculty member of the University of Missouri," wrote the lawmakers….