An assistant professor at Ohio State University has been placed on paid administrative leave following a hallway altercation with a freelance journalist that was captured on video and widely circulated online, as reported by The New York Post.

Luke Perez, who serves as an assistant professor in the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, was involved in the incident on February 9 inside Smith Laboratory.

According to footage first shared by DJ Byrnes on Instagram, Perez was speaking with two freelance reporters when the confrontation escalated.

One of the reporters, identified as Michael Neuman, attempted to walk past Perez when Perez allegedly reached for Neuman’s phone, grabbed him, and forced him to the floor.

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The video shows a heated exchange between the two men during and after the incident.

“I told you not to put that in my face,” Perez yells over Neuman. “Now, I’m not gonna ask you again, don’t touch me.”

Neuman responded, “I didn’t touch you, motherf**ker, who the f**k are you?”

Perez is heard claiming that Neuman “put his hands on me” before having a camera placed in his face. As Perez walks away down the hallway, Neuman and Byrnes can be heard threatening to contact the police.

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“That’s a lawsuit for sure,” Neuman says. “Are you f**king kidding me. He hits like a bitch, too. Sucker-punching me and he can’t knock me out? What a bitch.”

Liberals feel justified in assaulting a journalist, just because he doesn’t agree with him.

This is an Ohio State University professor of civics. He couldn’t answer a question, so he responded with violence. pic.twitter.com/vGW9aWfn36 — Joey FAFO (@jkeeter82) February 11, 2026

Byrnes, who runs the Rooster newsletter and describes himself as a political gadfly, said Neuman, a documentarian, was attempting to question Ohio State vice president E. Gordon Gee about student loan debt.

E. Gordon Gee, president emeritus of the university, was on campus as a guest speaker for Perez’s class as part of a lecture series titled “profiles in American leadership,” according to the The Columbus Dispatch.

Byrnes had previously interviewed Gee in the hallway about comments regarding sexual abuse survivors at Ohio State, the university’s history involving convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and privatized on-campus parking.

After that exchange, Neuman sought to ask a follow-up question when Perez intervened, telling them the interaction was over.

The two reporters have stated that Perez entered the hallway to inform them he did not consent to being filmed, though they maintain they were not seeking to interview him and instead wanted to question Gee.

Following the incident, Perez was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday as campus police began investigating, according to WSYX, which cited a university spokesperson.

Byrnes told the outlet he believes their First Amendment rights were violated, noting that Ohio State is a public institution.

“I thought we were in a bastion of free speech only to end up with a guy physically assaulted,” Byrnes said. “There’s no other way to describe it other than assault. It was bizarre.”

Neuman has called for criminal charges. His attorney, Rocky Ratliff, told WSYX, “My client wants Perez prosecuted and terminated.”

Ratliff added, “This is not the actions of an admirable professor or someone who’s professional. If the roles were reversed, he definitely would already be in jail.”

The Salmon P. Chase Center was established after a state law required Ohio State and four other public universities to promote “intellectual diversity.”

Ohio State’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement to The Columbus Dispatch condemning Perez’s actions.

“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 chapter 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 investigation by campus police remains ongoing.

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