Professor Filmed Allegedly Tackling Documentarian to the Ground on Campus. A Day Later, He Was Put on Leave

An assistant professor at Ohio State University has been placed on administrative leave after he was captured on video tackling a man to the ground inside an academic building.

The incident occurred Monday, Feb. 9, after a class at the university’s Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society that featured a guest appearance by E. Gordon Gee, a former university president, according to local reporting.

After the event, journalist D.J. Byrnes and an independent documentarian later identified by local outlets as Mike Newman were waiting to ask Gee questions. Byrnes interviewed Gee while Luke M. Perez stood nearby, and Newman then attempted to ask an additional question, Byrnes reported in his newsletter, The Rooster.

Video shared online shows Perez blocking a doorway and saying “No” before he appears to knock the camera from Newman’s hands and grab him. In the footage, Perez wraps his arms around Newman and brings him to the ground while shouting, “I told you not to put that in my face!”

Ohio State placed Perez on administrative leave the following day, Tuesday, Feb. 10, pending an investigation by campus police, university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said in a statement. The university also confirmed that neither Newman nor Byrnes is under investigation.

Newman, who attended Ohio State, told The Chronicle of Higher Education that he went to the emergency room after the altercation, saying he experienced pain in his shoulder and neck.

Ohio State professor Luke Perez assaults a journalist while @crgreen24601 watches. Both of them are faculty at the “Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society,” which claims to support free speech and “open inquiry.” https://t.co/E20lRLFARX pic.twitter.com/IJfeaFhXX4

— Max (@Juicewag) February 11, 2026

Byrnes and Newman said they were trying to interview Gee, who serves as a consultant for the Chase Center. Gee has recently drawn attention for comments defending billionaire Les Wexner, the university’s largest donor, amid reports that Wexner has been asked to testify before Congress this month about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, after Byrnes’ interview, Gee attempted to end the interaction and walked into a classroom, and Perez and another faculty member, Christopher R. Green, intervened, leading to the confrontation. Newman said he wanted to ask Gee about student-loan debt.

In a statement, Byrnes described the takedown as “one of the most shocking and disgusting acts of brutality” he has witnessed in years of reporting. He said he and Newman reported the incident to campus police.