Professor who called for 'muscle' suspended by Mizzou

Melissa Click, the University of Missouri communications professor who was caught on video calling for "muscle" to remove a student journalist, was officially suspended Wednesday night.

“MU Professor Melissa Click is suspended pending further investigation," Pam Henrickson, chair of the UM Board of Curators, said in a brief statement at the conclusion of a special board meeting Wednesday night.

"The Board of Curators directs the General Counsel, or outside counsel selected by General Counsel, to immediately conduct an investigation and collaborate with the city attorney and promptly report back to the Board so it may determine whether additional discipline is appropriate,” she adds.

Click was the subject of a viral video last fall that showed her calling on nearby students to forcefully evict a student journalist attempting to document the public protests on campus, and while the public outcry led her to resign a courtesy appointment in the journalism school, she retained her normal position as a communications professor. Recently, more than 100 state lawmakers signed a letter to the school demanding that she be fired, only to be rebuffed by the university and Gov. Jay Nixon (D).

[RELATED: Lawmakers call for firing of Mizzou professor involved in protests]

On Monday, the pressure on both Click and Mizzou intensified when Columbia’s City Prosecutor filed simple assault charges against in connection with a portion of the video in which Click appears to take a swipe at the camera.

[RELATED: Mizzou prof involved in protests charged with assault, but will keep job]

Mizzou initially stated that it would abstain from taking action while a task force looked into the circumstances of the case, but just two days later the university is shifting course, saying that while the investigation would continue, the Board is now exploring whether her actions merit "additional discipline."

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