The woman seen on video asking for "muscle" to help remove a journalist covering public demonstrations at the University of Missouri campus is an assistant professor of mass media, officials said Tuesday.
"Hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here," the professor, Melissa Click, said in the video. "I need some muscle over here."
The man who shot the video, and identified himself as a reporter to Click, is Mark Schierbecker.
Protesters engaged in a weeks-long protest against university officials' handling of reported racism and racist incidents on campus. On Monday, University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe both resigned from their positions. Following Wolfe's resignation, students gathered on campus to celebrate.
A spokesperson for the journalism school told BuzzFeed News that Click's full-time appointment is with the communication department, and that she had a "courtesy appointment," with the journalism school — meaning she either did research with a professor. It is not yet clear whether Click taught journalism students.
"Her permanent home as not in the J-school," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the video, University of Missouri protesters are shown stopping a student photographer from accessing the demonstrations on the quad.
Photographer Tim Tai, who was on assignment with ESPN, was trying to take photographs of the protestors when members of Concerned Student 1950, the activist group that raised awareness about racism on campus, told him he needs to leave.
"I'm documenting this for a national news organization," Tai tells the protestors, adding that the First Amendment protects his right to be there.
At one point in the video, Tai is confronted by Janna Basler, the director of Greek life and leadership on campus, who told the photographer to "back off."
Basler told Tai he is "infringing on what [the protesters] need right now, which is to be alone."
Protesters started pushing forward, restricting Tai from snapping photos. Requests for comment from Tai were not immediately returned.
Reporters from across the country took to Twitter to support Tai and his right to be on the quad documenting the protest.
Requests for comment for the university and Click were not immediately returned.
LINK: University Of Missouri System Leaders Resign Amid Pressure From Students
LINK: University Of Missouri Students Celebrate President’s Resignation On Campus
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1OBZC69
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