Suspended University of Missouri professor apologizes

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri assistant professor who was suspended over a videotaped confrontation with student journalists in November is apologizing again after a new video from October in which she yells at police surfaced.

Assistant communications professor Melissa Click said in a statement from Status Labs, the Texas company that's working to restore her reputation, that she's "sorry" she cursed at police, The Kansas City Star reported.

The latest video shows the school's Homecoming parade in October, where demonstrators blocked then-system president Tim Wolfe's vehicle. Police body camera footage obtained by The Columbia Missourian shows Click telling police to "get your hands off the children" and cursing at an officer.

Click said parade-goers were taunting the students and she felt "afraid" for them. She said she wanted to stand in solidarity with protesters "because of their moving message of racial exclusion and the angry responses of the onlookers."

Protests over race-related issues escalated in November, when video showed Click calling for "some muscle" to remove a student videographer from a demonstration. The chancellor of the Columbia campus and Wolfe later resigned.

The latest video has led to renewed calls from Republican Sens. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia and Eric Schmitt of St. Louis for Click's departure. Both commented on Twitter about the statement released Sunday by interim chancellor Hank Foley, who said Click's conduct in the homecoming video was "appalling."

Schmitt called Foley's statement "late" and "toothless," while Schaefer said "Mizzou should terminate her employment now."

Click, who was suspended last month, was charged with misdemeanor assault, though a prosecutor said he'll drop the matter if she completes community service.

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com