The Ohio State University professor who was accused in February of shoving a documentary filmmaker to the ground resigned last week, the university confirmed on Monday.
The professor, Luke M. Perez, who taught at an Ohio State center designed to promote civic engagement and intellectual diversity, was accused of attacking the filmmaker, Michael Newman, after Mr. Newman tried to ask additional questions to E. Gordon Gee, a former Ohio State president who was being interviewed.
As the interview in a campus building was ending, Mr. Newman asked to pose “one more question” to Dr. Gee.
At that point, according to court papers, Dr. Perez slapped Mr. Newman’s phone out of his hand, struck his face and shoved him into a wall.
Dr. Perez had initially been charged with assault, but pleaded guilty in July to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. His resignation was reported earlier by The Columbus Dispatch.
Jeffrey Vardaro, who is representing Mr. Newman in a related lawsuit, called Dr. Perez’s resignation a “positive development.” But he added that he believed Ohio State should take responsibility for the episode.
“It’s a really dark message that they’re sending to the public and the students when the First Amendment or free speech center, or however it’s portrayed, is not itself open to free speech,” Mr. Vardaro said.
Ohio State declined to comment beyond confirming the resignation.
The Salmon P. Chase Center, where Dr. Perez was a professor, was formed by the Ohio Legislature in 2023 with the stated purpose of “encouraging academic freedom and free speech.”
In his ongoing federal case against Dr. Perez and Christopher Green, an Ohio State law professor, Mr. Newman also accused Mr. Green of making false statements to the police suggesting that he was the aggressor in the February incident. Lawyers for Dr. Perez and Mr. Green did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Based on Mr. Green’s false statements, according to the lawsuit, the police at first focused their investigation on Mr. Newman. They elected to bring charges against Dr. Perez after interviewing Mr. Newman and viewing the video footage, the lawsuit said.
The incident was filmed by a local journalist, D.J. Byrnes, who is behind a left-leaning website called The Rooster that often skewers local politicians.
Mr. Byrnes was himself the target of a recent criminal case that also tested the limits of free speech, after he sent a message containing a lewd image of Shrek to a state senator.
Mr. Newman had been working on a documentary focusing on controversies at Ohio State, including allegations involving connections between the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and one of the university’s major donors, the businessman Leslie Wexner.
Mr. Wexner has repeatedly denied knowledge or involvement in any of Mr. Epstein’s criminal activities.
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