Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

A University of Missouri professor who was charged earlier this week with misdemeanor assault for calling for "some muscle" to help her eject a student journalist from a protest site has cut a deal to avoid prosecution.

Melissa Click, the assistant professor of communication who drew national attention in November after a video that captured her berating the student went viral, has entered a deferred prosecution agreement that calls for her to do 20 hours of community service and not break any laws over the next year. As long as she sticks to the deal, the city won't prosecute her on the simple assault charge that came with a maximum penalty of 15 days in jail.

"Based on the facts of this case, I believe this disposition to be appropriate," city prosecutor Stephen Richey said in a statement. "This disposition is in keeping with my office's handling of dozens of similar Municipal cases and adequately serves the interest of justice by ensuring the defendant will not engage in similar conduct."

Richey's office announced the simple assault charge against Click on Monday, more than two months after the incident on the University of Missouri's flagship campus received national attention. The University of Missouri's Board of Curators, which oversees four state university campuses, announced that Click had been placed on paid suspension, while its lawyers investigated.

John Fougere, a spokesman for the Board of Curators, said Friday that legal counsel for the board will continue its investigation of Click and that she remained suspended from her university job.

Click, who did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, was filmed having physical contact and berating a student journalist who was trying to conduct interviews at a campsite set up on the university's flagship campus in Columbia by students protesting the treatment of African Americans by administrators.

The video of the confrontation, which was taken by student journalist Mark Schierbecker, begins with a group of protesters yelling and pushing another student journalist, Tim Tai, who was trying to photograph the campsite. At the end of the video, Schierbecker approaches Click, who calls for "some muscle" to remove him from the protest area. She then appears to grab at Schierbecker's camera.

Schierbecker filed a complaint against Click with the campus police department within days of the incident, and Click was charged earlier this month. He said on Friday he had no opinion on the terms of the agreement.

"I think the criminal charges don't get into the heart of the matter of what she did, which was a First Amendment violation," Schierbecker said.

Republican lawmakers in the state have scoffed at the university for how they went about handling the incident, which came as the university was embroiled in protests over race relations on campus that had captured national attention after one black student went on a hunger strike and dozens of black football players went on strike. More than 100 GOP state legislators have called on the university to fire the assistant professor.

Click was at the protest site as an ally of the activist group Concerned Student 1950, which organized weeks of protests on campus. Those protests culminated with the University of Missouri system president and the chancellor of the university's Columbia campus resigning their posts.

On Friday, Concerned Student 1950 issued a statement in support of Click.

"It is unfortunate that Melissa Click has become the victim of social and political violence," the group said. "Click is a white woman, professor and ally who supported historically marginalized students at the University of Missouri during a time when students were exposing the institution for preserving racism."

Follow USA TODAY correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad