MU professor Melissa Click, who called for ‘muscle’ to remove reporter, charged with assault

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Kansas City Star

COLUMBIA - Melissa Click, the University of Missouri communications professor who garnered widespread scorn for trying to physically remove a student reporter from a campus protest, was formally charged with assault Monday morning.

A spokeswoman for the Columbia Prosecutor’s Office said Click was being charged with third degree assault, a class C misdemeanor that carries a possible 15-day jail sentence.

Click was caught on video calling for “some muscle” to remove a student reporter from an area on the university’s flagship campus where protesters had gathered. The protests eventually led to the resignation of University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe and Mizzou Chancellor R. Bown Loftin. Click, however, remains as an assistant professor in the Department of Communications.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article56443200.html

[snooper2]

1. When SJW get off the intertubes and DO IT LIVE (O'Reilly Style) LOL

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. "SJW"

[snooper2]

20. You can thumbs down all you want, but SJW apply to internet tools across the spectrum

Shit, there are some Bundy SJW all over YouTube comments right now.

They are pretty fun to troll

[alcibiades_mystery]

21. Uh huh

[NaturalHigh]

23. To the contrary, the term works perfectly in this case.

[romanic]

37. +1

If it fits, it sticks.

[NaturalHigh]

22. She's really letting her crazy show in that picture.

[Odin2005]

40. "SJW" Reddit is leaking it's Brogressives.

[pothos]

47. unreal

never expected to see that used around here

[geek tragedy]

2. she's an asshat royale, but I'm not seeing a criminal violation nt

[branford]

5. Without any need to analyze the relevant criminal statutes,

I would surmise that the criminal charges are a coordinated means to force Click to resign quietly and go away, far, far away.

Any attempt by her to defend herself in court or otherwise, particularly after she admitted wrongdoing, will be a public relations nightmare for her and any cause she supports. She's poison.

[geek tragedy]

7. if you are correct, that's an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and the office itself nt

[branford]

30. Why?

Click's conduct can easily fit within a multitude of local assault and battery statutes, particularly such a low level misdemeanor of which she is charged.

Prosecutorial discretion also has few limitations, prosecutors may consult with the community to determine if charges are necessary or worthwhile, and Click's videotaped conduct offers multiple, entirely legitimate reasons to prosecute, include pushing the legal envelope in potential charges. Prosecutorial discretion would also be appropriately applied if the prosecutor agreed to drop the charges or offer a conditional discharge in return for Click's resignation.

[geek tragedy]

32. you prefaced your remarks with "Without any need to analyze the relevant criminal statutes"

indicating a belief that non-legal reasoning was driving the decision to prosecute.

"pushing the legal envelope in potential charges" in order to curry favor with political interests is exactly what responsible prosecutors do not do.

[branford]

33. No, I simply did not want to get into an ancillary discussion

concerning the technical requirements necessary to sustain local, low level misdemeanor criminal assault charges.

More importantly, never forget that local district or state's attorneys are elected. They all curry favor with political interests and take community sentiments into account when making charging decisions, regardless of whether those interests and opinions are on the right or left of the political spectrum. So long as they follow the various applicable canons of ethics for lawyers, they have committed no ethical lapse. I can further assure you that except in the most egregious of examples, and this clearly doesn't apply here, overcharging or seeking the maximum criminal charge that may be sustained is definitely within a prosecutor's discretion. Similarly, employing legitimate criminal charges with a willingness to accept a plea or agreement with only civil penalties, such as a professor's resignation after she employed violence against student in a public space, is also perfectly ethical.

You certainly may disagree with this prosecutor's reasons or decision mechanism for bringing charges (if I'm indeed correct as to state's motives) or the criminal charge itself, but I do not see any violations of defined prosecutorial power or ethics.

[geek tragedy]

34. you are presuming that the decision to prosecute is based on community sentiment

rather than that from the state legislature.

[branford]

36. I surmise that both legislative and community sentiment factored into the decision to prosecute.

In fact, the only people who appear to have offered even tepid defense of Click are a very small minority of other activist professors who wrote a letter to the Dean.

It's undeniable that Click's conduct was terrible and counterproductive, almost certainly a criminal violation, albeit quite minor, and she definitely should have known better. One can certainly argue that the national shame and humiliation she endured was punishment enough, but the very minor criminal charges should nevertheless still come as no surprise to anyone, particularly since she refused to resign. A criminal conviction for her conduct (or a plea or similar agreement), no matter that's it's a misdemeanor, will easily provide enough justification to get rid of Click, a demonstrated violent troublemaker, while silencing most critics of her removal.

[geek tragedy]

39. turning the office of the prosecutor into an extension of a faction

within the legislature, systematically punishing those of a certain alignment, is the stuff of police states.

It is a half-step from that to stuff like this:

http://reason.com/blog/2015/01/19/that-time-the-fbi-tried-to-get-mlk-to-co


this woman should be fired, but that's the province of university administration

[branford]

46. She an untenured facility at a state institution.

Any member of the legislature, the local community, the school, the elected prosecutor, students, faculty, etc. all have the right to comment about Click and use any legal authority or persuasiveness at their disposal to advocate for or against her termination or criminal charges.

To compare the mess that Click brought entirely upon herself at Mizzo as the "stuff of police states" is ludicrously hyperbolic and just inaccurate.

Moreover, what is her purported "alignment" that the legislature wants to punish? Admittedly violent state college communications and journalism professors without tenure who seek to deny people and the press access to public spaces? Her conduct certainly doesn't place her within the confines of anything resembling liberal or progressive thought. In fact, those members of the legislature (and state's attorney) democratically represent their constituents, and their strong condemnation of Click is not only entirely appropriate, but expected. She's not being discriminated against because she holds liberal views, rather because she's a violent idiot who abused her position of authority and is a poor role model for her students by any standard. The fact that she wasn't immediately terminated is the only mystery that needs any explanation.

[geek tragedy]

51. Her minor offense pales in comparison to the corruption and systematic abuses of authority

throughout the state of Missouri by local officials and police departments, especially in their interactions with poor and black citizens of Missouri.

No criminal charges filed against those officials, no accountability whatsoever at the state level. It took an intensive investigation by Eric Holder's DOJ to get anything changed there.

Melissa Click is being targeted because she's on the opposite side of those corrupt officials, whose defenders include the same people who are agitating for her to be thrown in jail.

As I said, when it's only one side being punished, the result is not justice.

As I noted above, Melissa Click is an asshat royale. But that law enforcement in the state of Missouri chose to prosecute her and not the criminals in places like Ferguson speaks volumes about what is really going on.

[pintobean]

56. Law enforcement in Columbia has nothing to do with Ferguson.

The premise of your post is ridiculous. Columbia pressed charges on Click because the journalist involved filed a complaint, and there was evidence of the crime.

They couldn't do nothing and claim Ferguson as a reason.

[melman]

58. "volumes about what is really going on"

christ, what a bizarre post.

[TipTok]

55. She committed textbook assault...

Charges are completely appropriate

[pintobean]

10. She was pushing on a reporter.

[exboyfil]

26. Which is battery

The charges are appropriate.

[Lemoni]

43. If you read the law, you will see a violation

This degree assault occurs if,...

"The person knowingly causes physical contact with another person knowing the other person will regard the contact as offensive or provocative" http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/56500000701.HTML

[yardwork]

48. Agreed.

[NaturalHigh]

3. Good. I hope she does the fifteen days.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. Kinda wondering what took so long

She deserves it, but I feel like charges should have been pressed immediately by the aggrieved party.

[Attorney in Texas]

6. Good to know that when there are terroristic threats against the black students, someone may

eventually get indicted (kinda sad that it's the person who was demonstrating on the side of the threatened students, but that USA in our post-racism society).

[Ace Rothstein]

8. The two students that made threats against black students were arrested immediately.

Just because Click was on the side of the threatened students doesn't mean she doesn't deserve to be arrested for assaulting someone.

[Skeeter Barnes]

25. Pushing people and calling for a goon squad to attack a reporter is not demonstrating.

[beevul]

27. One of those she threatened was a minority...

One of those she threatened was a minority, if memory serves.

[TipTok]

28. What does it matter?

[beevul]

29. Read the post I was responding to for your answer. N/T

[chervilant]

9. When did it become

the "rule" that reporters could be blocked from filming an historic event?

[iandhr]

15. She made up the rule herself because she doesn't have two brain cells to rub together.

[Yo_Mama]

16. It isn't a rule, and using physical force against anyone is assault.

We don't need reporters to be muscled around.

[chervilant]

18. Too true.

And, it hurts my heart to see how many were pushing against that young reporter.

[snooper2]

24. Reporter didn't have the proper "Safe Space" camera :)

[SoapBox]

11. Oh Melissa...

Can you say, Buh-Bye to your job?!?

Maybe you shouldn't have been a psycho dick!

[closeupready]

12. Glad to hear it. K&R

As a disclaimer, I won't say that I think she's a horrible person, because in the heat of the moment, she may have just gotten carried away. That's happened to almost everyone. This will pass, and her life will go on, and the lesson will be learned.

[Yo_Mama]

17. Yes, I agree. But I am glad to see that there was a consequence.

Nobody owns public spaces.

[bluestateguy]

13. She brought this on herself

Her behavior was thuggish, unprofessional, intimidating and possibly and incitement of violence against a journalist.

Was it criminal?

Let a jury decide.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. Could we charge Der Donald?

Next time he tells his brownshirts "get him outta here"?

[branford]

31. It's legal to remove or eject someone from an event on private property,

particularly if they're being disruptive, and even if it is a political event.

Click, a professor of communications and journalism, was personally attempting to utilize violence to prevent a reporter from entering upon and reporting conduct on public property.

[jumptheshadow]

35. She is up for tenure

She probably won't get it. The arrest adds documentation when the decision is made.

[romanic]

38. Good.

She and other professors need to learn that you can't try to appease your student "activist" and go along and bully other students on campus for "violating your safe space". It may be harsh to put her in jail (which I think won't happen, she'll prob get a fine at most) but it's a strong message not to intimidate or harass your own students.

[MisterP]

41. there's a lot of profs who like to be photographed with a mic as though

they're riling the crowd up themselves (remember Bob Dornan's speeches to the empty House?)

[PersonNumber503602]

42. When I was watching that video, I couldn't figure out why she was so upset with the reporter

I was confused as to why they wanted the school reporter gone. Was there any bad history with the reporter, or was that just her exposing her authoritarian personality?

*Not saying that a bad history with the reporter was a legitimate reason to prevent him entering the space, or for pushing him. I'm just curious what was going through her mind at the time.

[William Seger]

44. Yes, this story is very confusing to me, too

I don't get it. Typically, the whole point of a demonstration is to get media attention.

[romanic]

45. The gist of it

basically boils down to some of the Mizzou activists setting up a "safe space" in a pubiic quad and not wanting any media to cover what they were doing.

[TipTok]

49. I think it was more 'approved' media...

... Who would be sympathetic to their cause.

You can come as long as you write what we want you to write.

[Demonaut]

50. from what I've read, she's a liberal in support of the students and the 10 repub lawmakers are

pushing for her expulsion
on edit, so sjw applies here?

[X_Digger]

52. Good.

[Quantess]

53. What a nitwit.

She got what she deserved.

[bluestateguy]

54. She really will need muscle now

to clean out her office.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/25/university-missouri-fires-professor-melissa-click/80940690/

[tonekat]

57. She's a jerk

She got emotionally involved and made liberals look stupid. We don't need that.

[GOLGO 13]

59. SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR gets the bad news.

Not very smart move professor.