OSU Professor On Leave After Tackling Documentarian

An Ohio State University professor who was recently hired to help advance free speech and civil discourse is now on administrative leave after assaulting a documentarian on campus, university officials confirmed Wednesday.

On Monday evening, Luke Perez—an assistant professor affiliated with OSU’s legislatively mandated Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society—invited E. Gordon Gee to speak to his Profiles in American Leadership class. Gee, a two-time president of OSU, was hired last August as a consultant for the center, which Republican lawmakers have characterized as a space to promote “intellectual diversity” and prevent alleged leftist ideology from “replacing the lessons of history.”

But after Gee spoke to the class in the five-story Smith Laboratory building, D.J. Byrnes, author of the local left-wing newsletter The Rooster, and Mike Newman, a local documentarian, intercepted Gee as he exited a public restroom. They began asking him questions about his awareness of a campus doctor’s sexual abuse of student athletes during his presidency; his recent defense of Leslie Wexner, a billionaire and former board chair of OSU whose communications with convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein are under scrutiny; and his decision to sell OSU’s parking lots to a private equity firm.

“We wanted to get Gee on the record about some of the big issues here,” Byrnes told Inside Higher Ed on Wednesday. A video Byrnes posted on The Rooster’s website shows Gee and Byrnes engaging in a lengthy yet calm discussion in a hallway. Gee, however, declined to answer most of Byrnes’s questions, save to say that selling OSU’s parking lots for nearly $500 million “was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

During the parking lot discussion, Gee began to walk away, the video shows. And soon after, the situation accelerated from “zero to 60,” Byrnes said.

Another video Byrnes posted shows both Perez—a scholar of American grand strategy, the ethics of war and religion and international politics—and Christopher Green, associate director of the Salmon P. Chase Center, watching at least the end of the interaction between Byrnes and Gee.

“We agreed that he would talk to you for a few minutes,” Green said as Gee walked through double doors into a nearby classroom.

But Newman, the documentarian who was there independently of Byrnes, said he hadn’t agreed to anything and wanted to ask Gee a few more questions. Green and Perez refused.

“You do not need to ask him more questions,” Green said.

“He already said it was his last question, so we’re going to have to ask you guys to leave now,” Perez added in a calm tone.

“Just one more,” said Newman, who was holding a camera and cellphone as he moved closer to Perez, but did not appear to touch him.

“No,” Perez said before knocking the phone from Newman’s hands and tackling him to the ground.

@rooster_ohio Wednesday on The Rooster: A visit to Ohio State’s right-wing bastion of free speech ends with Assistant Professor Lucas Perez assaulting a documentarian for wanting to ask Vice President E. Gordon Gee a single question about student loan debt. Full story at 4:33 a.m. in your mailbox. #ohio #ohiostate #ohiostateuniversity #ohiocheck #gobucks ♬ original sound – The Rooster

But the confrontation didn’t stop there, another video Byrnes posted shows.

After the assault, Byrnes tried to board an elevator alongside Green and Gee. While Green attempted to block Byrnes, he eventually got on the elevator. In the video, Green can be heard raising his voice, accusing Byrnes of assaulting him multiple times while asking a nearby woman to call the police. The video does not show Byrnes touching Green.

“We’ll see who considers what assault [is] when we’re done,” Byrnes said. “It’s all on video.”

@rooster_ohio The Bust Up of E. Gordon Gee happened Monday night in Smith Lab. It was a normal affair until Assistant Ohio State Professor Luke Perez attacked a cameraman. Full story (with video) to come Wednesday on The Rooster. #ohio #ohiotok #ohiocheck #ohiostate #ohiostateuniversity ♬ original sound – The Rooster

Perez declined to comment about the incident and referred all questions to OSU’s communications office.

“We are aware of the incident, and it is very concerning,” Ben Johnson, an OSU spokesperson, wrote in an email. “The faculty member involved has been placed on administrative leave pending a full OSUPD investigation and thorough review of the facts.”

Byrnes and Newman have filed a police report about the incident, though it’s not clear if charges have been or will be filed against Perez. Inside Higher Ed requested a copy of the police incident report but did not receive it before publication Wednesday.

Byrnes said he wants Perez to face some accountability for tackling Newman, though Newman himself could not be reached for comment.

“He doesn’t deserve to lose his livelihood and never work again,” Byrnes said. “But at the same time, I do believe there needs to be legal consequences.”