Arrested black gay reporter at DeWine presser intended to "do harm to me" — Ohio National Guard chief John Harris

Lambert, right

The presser, following a nearby train derailment, was supposed to start at 3 pm but NewsNation reporter Evan Lambert was reporting live at 5 by the time Ohio Governor Dewine started speaking.

     The man in charge of Ohio’s National Guard, Maj. Gen. John Harris, decided that Lambert, at the back of the gym, was too loud. Lambert objected.

     Shortly thereafter, Lambert was yanked out of the gym and tackled to the floor, away from others in the press conference gymnasium venue.

     WKBN reporter Gerry Ricciuti published Harris's account, which AKSARBENT thinks is 80% bullshit.

 “During Gov. DeWine’s press conference on Feb. 8, 2023, I heard very loud voices coming from the back of the gymnasium. Since most of the people in my immediate area were involved in the press conference as Public Information Officers or Subject Matters Experts, I decided I was the best person to notify the source of the disruption that the press conference had begun. 

Upon reaching the back of the gym, I saw a cameraman and reporter making what I assumed was a recorded message. Upon telling the reporter that the press conference had begun and that they were disrupting it, they appeared to become agitated and informed me that they were broadcasting live. After stepping out of the shot and appealing to them to be quiet down, I waited for them to finish their work. As I began to offer the assistance of my PIO team to find a more suitable location, the cameraman demanded, HEY, COME OVER HERE!   

Confused, I told him I would not come over there. I went back to conversing with the reporter who grew more agitated. He then became enraged. His eyes opened wide, he stared at me while very aggressively lurching at me. He screamed YOU GUYS ARE THE ONES WHO STRUNG THIS THING OUT! (I assumed he was referring to the 2-hour delay for the press conference).  

He is a much larger person than I am. At that point I was convinced he was prepared to do harm to me. I instinctively put my hands on his chest to keep him from bumping into me, which I felt was inevitable if I had not protected myself. I immediately removed my hands when there was space between us – we were in contact for less than a second.  

At that time he immediately began yelling statements such as: ASSAULT! DID YOU SEE THAT, HE ASSAULTED ME! That was witnessed by several law enforcement officers. The officers attempted to persuade him to stop being disruptive. Now convinced that I was involved in a contrived event, I removed myself from the immediate area and walked back to the press conference.  As I walked away I heard his voice continue to get louder and more hostile and the commotion at the rear of the gym continued. At the point I was no longer in a position to see what was happening.”

KTLA has released body cam video of Evan Lambert's takedown which effectively gives the lie to John Harris's preposterous claim of feeling threatened into shoving reporter Lambert.