![Melissa Click [YouTube screengrab]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/05-05-2015Albinism_NotGhost6-e1447182663123.jpg "Melissa Click [YouTube screengrab]")
Concerned Student 1950, the University of Missouri (MU) black activist group that kicked off a national wave of campus protests last fall, has released a statement claiming suspended professor Melissa Click is a civil rights martyr and victim of violence.
Click is the MU communications professor who famously accosted a student journalist and called for “muscle” to prevent them from covering a campus demonstration. On Monday, Click was charged with misdemeanor assault for her action, and on Wednesday the school suspended her.
Now, Concerned Student 1950, which organized the protest Click was trying to exclude the press from, is denouncing the way Click is being treated. The group says she is wrongly being labeled a criminal by oppressive authorities unwilling to dismantle racism on campus. (RELATED: The 9 Most Preposterous Parts Of Melissa Click’s Absurd Résumé)
“White supremacy is on the hunt for social degradation once again,” the statement says. “It is unfortunate that Melissa Click has become the victim of social and political violence.”
The statement explicitly compares Click with earlier civil rights activists who were murdered during the 1960s.
“In 1965 … Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a white woman and Civil Rights ally was murdered by members of an American terrorists [sic] group, the Ku Klux Klan. One would think that society has learned from its evil past. However, those who wish to perpetuate oppression would rather utilize power and influence to label Click as a ‘criminal’ instead of dismantling white supremacist patriarchal capitalism within the University of Missouri system.”
The statement then reiterates past demands for the school to increase the number of black faculty, recruit more black students and institute shared governance (with students being allowed to guide university policy and hiring decisions).
“We will remain committed to ensuring our demands are met by any means necessary,” the statement ends (emphasis theirs).
Concerned Student 1950 successfully drove MU president Tim Wolfe from office last November, the same day that Click attracted national headlines. The group’s activities inspired imitators around the country, who rocked campus after campus with aggressive protests and sit-ins.
Send tips to blake@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.