Missouri student files complaint against professor who called for 'muscle'

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Missouri student files complaint against professor who called for 'muscle' Mark Schierbecker the University of Missouri student who filmed assistant professor Melissa Click call for "muscle" to eject him from a protest site on campus says he has filed a complaint with police alleging simple assault.

The University of Missouri student who filmed assistant professor Melissa Click call for "muscle" to eject him from a protest site on campus says he filed a complaint with police alleging simple assault.

Mark Schierbecker said he filed the complaint with campus police late Wednesday and was waiting to hear if they would press charges against Click, an assistant professor in the university's Department of Communication. A police department spokesman, Major Brian Weimar, confirmed the complaint had been filed.

"We are looking into this and following up," Weimar said.

Click did not respond to a request for comment.

Video of a confrontation by Schierbecker on Monday showed allies of the Concerned Student 1950 movement berating another student-journalist, Tim Tai, who was trying to photograph a campsite that protesters had established on the university's quad. At the end of the video, Schierbecker approaches Click, who calls for "muscle" to remove him from the protest area. She then appears to grab at Schierbecker's camera.

The campus has been embroiled in protests over school administrators' handling of a series of racially-charged incidents on campus. On Monday, the state's university system president Tim Wolfe and Missouri chancellor R. Bowen Loftin announced their resignations.

Under fire, Click resigned her courtesy appointment with the journalism school on Tuesday, but remains an assistant professor in the university's Department of Communication.

Jordan Yount, a spokesman for the university's Arts & Science College, on Thursday referred questions about the assault complaint and Click's status at the university to the chairman of the communication's department, Mitchell McKinney. McKinney did not respond to a request for comment.

Raw: Mizzou Protesters Stop Photog From Working A video showing a photographer's clash with University of Missouri protesters who tried to block his access in a public section of campus is fanning debate about freedom of the press. (Nov. 10)

Click issued a statement on Tuesday apologizing to journalists involved in the incident, and said that she had called Tai to offer an apology. She issued a second statement Wednesday saying that she had resigned her appointment to the Student Publications Committee, which makes recommendations to Mizzou's vice chancellor on operations of the student-run campus newspaper The Maneater.

Schierbecker said he met with Click at her office on Tuesday, but that he found her apology "lacking." He said that he's made further attempts to contact Click to speak to her about his grievances with her, but she has refused to engage him.

"I am just left with the feeling that she doesn't care," Schierbecker told USA TODAY.

Click expressed remorse when she met with journalism faculty on Tuesday night, and said that she does not recall pushing Schiebecker as the video shows, said Esther Thorson, associate dean of graduate studies and research at the journalism school. Click also told the faculty members, who were weighing whether to revoke her courtesy appointment with the journalism school, that she had received more than 2,000 threatening e-mails since Monday's incident.

"She said she felt threatened by (Schierbecker)," Thorson said in an interview. "I asked, 'Did you push him?' She said that she didn't remember, that she thought she held up her hand. She said she felt that she and the students were being aggressed upon."

Administrators announced on Wednesday that they had put a staff member, Greek Life director Janna Basler, on administrative leave while they investigate her actions at the protest. Basler was seen screaming and having physical contact with Tai in Schierbecker's video.

A Missouri state senator. Kurt Schaefer, urged the university to fire both Click and Basler. “It is incumbent on the University of Missouri to send a strong message that acts of intimidation and violence will not be tolerated on campus,” Schaefer, a Republican, said in a statement.

He also said that prosecutors should consider filing criminal charges against one or both of them. The charges could include assault or attempted false imprisonment, according to Schaefer's statement.



