Student who pushed protester diverted to program

An Ohio State University student who pushed an anti-Trump protester down a staircase during a rally on campus has been placed in a program that will allow him to avoid a criminal conviction if he stays out of trouble.

Shane M. Stanton, 24, of Worthington, pleaded guilty on March 15 to a misdemeanor count of disturbing a lawful meeting. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Andrea Peeples approved a request from the Columbus city attorney’s office and Stanton’s attorney to grant him what is known as intervention in lieu of conviction.

If he keeps appointments with the probation department and doesn’t have any problems between now and Nov. 14, the conviction will not be entered into the court record, defense attorney John Kulewicz said.

At the time of the incident, which occurred Nov. 14, 2016, on the steps inside the Ohio Union, it appeared that the activist, Tim Adams, had been attacked for political reasons. A video of the push quickly spread across the internet, prompting condemnation on social media.

By the next day, it was reported that Stanton has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism characterized by difficulty with social interaction and impulse control. Adams immediately said he hoped that a misdemeanor assault charge against Stanton would be dropped.

“This was not a politically motivated act,” Kulewicz said Friday. “Mr. Stanton, in an exception to the way he has acted his entire life, acted on impulse. The court and prosecution were willing to recognize that.”

Kulewicz said Stanton graduated from Ohio State in December.