Ohio State professor on administrative leave after assaulting journalist

Trevor Voigt
Thu, 12 Feb 2026 03:53:50 +0000
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Frames from the video of Ohio State assistant professor Luke Perez grappling a local cameraman after President Emeritus E. Gordon Gee visited a Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society class Monday. Credit: Courtesy of DJ Byrnes, The Rooster

An Ohio State professor was placed on administrative leave following a physical confrontation with a cameraman attempting to interview former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee.

Luke Perez, an assistant professor at the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, is seen on video tackling Mike Newman, an independent documentarian, in a hallway at Smith Laboratory. Gee was there to speak in Perez’s class, Profiles in American Leadership.

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

When contacted, Perez responded that all media inquiries should be sent to Johnson or another Ohio State spokesperson, Chris Booker.

Newman was attempting to film and interview Gee, following his presentation to Perez’s class.

Gee, who now serves as an Ohio State consultant, was inside Smith Lab around 5 p.m. Monday, when he was approached by two creators —? Newman and DJ Byrnes, who runs a local Substack-based newsletter, “The Rooster.”

The two men were unaffiliated with each other but were both attempting to interview Gee following his guest lecture in the class, Byrnes said.

“We knew he was going to be in Smith Lab at this certain time and so we basically show up after the class. We’re out in the hallway. We introduce ourselves,” Byrnes said.?

“Gordon Gee, to his credit, he understood what it was,” Byrnes said. “He said, ‘I’ll answer your questions, I don’t want to be followed out to my car.’ ”

Byrnes said that what followed was a “normal five-minute interview, nothing crazy.” Gee answered Byrnes’ questions and ended the interview before Newman could ask any questions of his own.?

“They must have mistakenly thought we were together,” Byrnes said.?

Byrnes said that Newman then attempted to continue the interview before things escalated.

It was then that, according to Byrnes, Perez stepped in front of Newman to block him from approaching Gee.?

“Perez jumps in front of him, and [Newman] backs up, and then Perez just attacks.” Byrnes said.

A video posted to social media shows Perez blocking Newman, who takes a step forward with his camera equipment before Perez strikes the camera and wrestles Newman to the ground.

“I told you not to put that [camera] in my face,” Perez is heard telling Newman.

Perez then said that Newman put his hands on him, which the video does not show.

Following the incident, Byrnes, with his camera, followed Gee, Perez and Christopher Green, Chase Center associate director, to an elevator, where Byrnes continued to ask questions before Green placed himself between Byrnes and the threshold of the elevator.?

“You are not going to ask for favors. You are not going to enter the elevator,” Green said in the video.

Byrnes then attempts to enter the elevator before Green said he was being assaulted, Byrnes moved into the elevator and Green repeatedly asked Byrnes to leave.

“This is unwise.” Green is heard saying to Byrnes in the video. “You’ve committed assault several times.”?

The group then left the elevator, where they were joined by Lee Strang, Chase Center executive director, before reentering the elevator and descending.

The Lantern has requested the incident report from the university and will update the article when it is obtained.

The Salmon P. Chase Center was established in 2023 as an intellectual diversity center following the passing of Senate Bill 117.

Ohio State’s American Association of University Professors chapter said in a statement that incident contradicts what the center is promoting.

“Based on what we know now, this incident is a vivid illustration of a larger problem – the way the Chase Center and other so-called ‘intellectual diversity’ centers have been forcibly and unnecessarily imposed on Ohio’s universities,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, this assault — and the embarrassing actions around it — make it clear these centers aren’t really about encouraging civil discourse and intellectual diversity. AAUP-OSU is in favor of free speech for everyone on campus, not just for the ideas that politicians want to promote.”

The article was updated on Feb. 13 at 1:15 p.m. to provide context to the Salmon P. Chase Center and add Ohio State AAUP’s statement.

E. Gordon Gee’s name was corrected in the caption on Feb. 11 at 7:03 p.m.