Ohio State Prof Who Tackled Journalist Pleads No Contest

An Ohio State University professor who tackled a journalist on campus earlier this year is on probation after pleading no contest to one count of disorderly conduct Monday, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.

In February, Luke Perez, an assistant professor affiliated with OSU’s legislatively mandated Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, was caught on camera assaulting local documentarian Mike Newman in a hallway. Newman and another journalist were there to ask E. Gordon Gee, a two-time president of OSU and then-consultant for the center, questions after he gave a guest lecture. 

After asking Gee several questions, Perez told the reporters to leave. When they verbally objected, he tackled Newman. 

Perez has been on leave since the altercation. In June, a human resources sanctioning committee recommended his firing, calling his actions “the most egregious incident of workplace violence they had ever investigated.” Perez told the committee that he did not consider his behavior violent and he acted in self-defense in line with the university’s guidance on responding to active aggressors. 

Perez was originally charged with assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, to which he pleaded not guilty. On Monday, the court found him guilty of an amended charge of disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. Perez was sentenced to two years’ probation and a suspended 30 days in jail. He was also required to pay a $100 fine, according to court records.

When asked if Perez is still employed at OSU, a university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that he “remains on administrative leave.”