Video shows Rutgers staffer putting student in chokehold

A Rutgers staff member is seen in a video putting a university senior in a chokehold prior to a Board of Governors meeting Wednesday, when the student refused to put down a binder containing information about a possible tuition hike.

The YouTube video shows a student identified by The Daily Targum as senior Patrick Gibson, leafing through one of the binders that were on the table in the meeting room. As he wanders around the table, a staff member warns him to put the binder down, but the students refuses, at which point the male staff member charges at him, grabbing him and putting him in a chokehold.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Three times already, right? At least," the staff member can be heard saying in the video.

Gibson is then seen throwing the binder onto the floor as the staff member - who has not yet been identified - walks away.

According to The Daily Targum, a Rutgers University police officer later escorted Gibson from the room. The student told The Targum he was "attempting to figure out what my tuition would be in the upcoming year."

Rutgers media relations officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but university spokesperson E.J. Miranda told The Targum that the incident "was a misunderstanding between the staffer and the student" and is being investigated by Rutgers police.

According to The Targum, Gibson is a member of a student coalition that had been pushing for a 2.5 percent tuition rollback. The decrease would have saved the average Rutgers student $350, according to NorthJersey.com. Instead of the rollback, however, the Rutgers Board of Governors instead voted to increase tuition by 1.7 percent, The Targum reported.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.

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