The Slatest

University of Missouri Protesters Force Media Out of Quad, Declare Area a Student “Safe Space”

The protests at the University of Missouri led to the resignation of the head of the state university system Monday and resulted in the university’s chancellor being booted as well. The issue of institutional indifference to numerous racist incidents on campus is troubling and serious. (For a full rundown of how the university arrived at this moment with a student leader on hunger strike, the football team threatening to sit out games, and the quad filled with protesters, Slate has a full primer to get you up to speed here.) On Monday, however, student protesters in the campus’ quad turned their attention to members of the media covering the unfolding events.  

The altercation in the above video, awkwardly, involves a student at the university, Tim Tai, a photojournalist who was covering the protests. A faculty member at the university, mass communications professor Melissa Click, appears, at least in part, to be organizing the effort to block access to the quad. At the very end of the video, Click can be heard saying: “Hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? … I need some muscle over here.”

*This post has been updated with new information.