Joel Ebert, and Dave Boucher

The Tennessean

Jeremy Durham hit a University of Florida fan in the face during the University of Tennessee’s football game Saturday, resulting in the Franklin Republican being escorted out of Neyland Stadium by law enforcement.

There are no official details about what happened, but several witnesses confirmed an officer approached Durham and asked him to leave. The recently expelled lawmaker complied and was escorted out of the stands by a Blount County sheriff's deputy.

Photos and video obtained by The Tennessean verify that Durham was approached by the deputy and others after the hitting incident.

When initially approached by event staff, Durham said, "Did you see what he did? He pushed me. And I pushed his sunglasses off."

A Tennessee fan who saw what happened said Durham was sitting with his wife and state Sen. Brian Kelsey, a longtime friend of Durham. The Tennessee fan said a particularly boisterous Florida fan was yelling loudly, and at one point Durham responded to the yells. The Florida fan started yelling at Durham. Once the Florida fan yelled at Durham, the Tennessee fan said, Durham turned around and hit the man in the face.

"As he hit the guy's face, almost slapped at his face, he caused the guy's glasses to fly off his face. (The glasses) probably went 10 to 12 people down the aisle and one row in front," said the fan, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

David Williams, son of former Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams, who was seated three rows behind the Florida fan and four rows behind Durham, said, "I saw Mr. Durham turn around and basically smack the guy in the face and it knocked the sunglasses off his head."

Williams said the Florida fan — whom he estimated to be 17 to 20 years old — didn't retaliate before reporting the incident.

The Tennessee fan said the stadium was quiet at the time, thanks to UT's poor performance at the time, so everyone in the area could hear the Florida fan and Durham's confrontation. The Tennessee fan recognized Durham due to ongoing media coverage about his inappropriate behavior with women and Kelsey because he is a state senator.

Kelsey, R-Germantown, said he was uncertain what prompted the deputy's request because he was focused on the football game.

"I didn’t witness anything unusual," Kelsey said, reiterating that he didn't see the altercation. He added, "But it was obvious the officer had asked questions of a Florida fan behind us."

Kelsey said he didn't remember Durham responding to the deputy, but the former lawmaker complied with the request. At the time, Durham's wife, Jessica, who was sitting with them, also left.

When asked about the possibility of Durham being involved in the altercation, Kelsey later said via text, "If that behavior did occur, it's totally unacceptable and it's unbecoming of a Vol fan."

Another source who saw Durham being escorted out of the stadium said as Durham passed by he was telling the officers he was “with the government” while also declaring, “I support police. I support you!”

Durham stopped speaking with The Tennessean in July. Shortly after this story was published, Durham posted on Twitter, "possibly the most ridiculous article ever written by the most ridiculous newspaper ever in existence."

Karen Simsen, a spokeswoman for the university, said Monday that although victims involved in altercations or assaults can file a report, the university did not receive a report of the incident.

Although she could not confirm the incident involved Durham, she said anyone who would be ejected from a game would typically be processed through a station in the stadium.

Simsen said the university is unable to provide many details about the incident because it occurred during a "crazy busy" period of the game during the second quarter.

Although one witness said the incident occurred during the second quarter, Kelsey disagreed, saying he thought Durham was approached during the third quarter. Audio from a video clip of the incident references a play in the game that appears to show Durham was escorted out by police during the third quarter.

It is unclear whether the Florida fan involved in the incident also was asked to leave the stadium.

Lt. Mike Richardson, a spokesman for the campus police, said he did not have any records of an arrest or citation related to Durham.

“It is possible that any individual could be asked to leave the stadium by law enforcement if they were causing a disturbance without (being) taken to the Transfer Station due to the high call volume during such an event,” Richardson said.

Campus police's crime log — which includes crimes that occur on UT-owned or controlled property — has not been updated since Wednesday.

Darrell DeBusk, public information officer for the Knoxville Police Department, said he saw a picture of Durham being removed but confirmed his agency did not arrest or cite Durham. In addition to a private security company, Knoxville police, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, along with police from Alcoa and Oak Ridge and sheriff's deputies from Blount and Knox counties provide the university security support during football games, Simsen said.

A video obtained by The Tennessean shows Durham being escorted out of the stands by a sheriff's deputy. DeBusk confirmed a Blount County deputy removed Durham. A spokesman for the Blount County Sheriff directed any questions to the University of Tennessee.

Before the start of the game between the Volunteers and the Florida Gators, Durham and a fan of another team engaged in a heated Twitter exchange.

The fan referenced allegations that Durham, who was expelled from the legislature on Sept. 13, had inappropriate sexual contact with at least 22 women, which was determined by Attorney General Herbert Slatery.

During the exchange, Durham replied to the fan, saying, “As long as I don’t have lipstick on my mouth beside three other homos in my Twitter pic, I'm good to go.”

Saturday’s incident is not the first time Durham has interacted with authorities in Knoxville, according to police records obtained by The Tennessean.

In 2003 — when Durham was an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville — he was arrested on aggravated burglary, vandalism and theft charges. When being questioned by police, Durham — who had a spots of blood on his clothing and on the steering wheel of his car after breaking a window to gain access to a house — admitted to forcing his way into the building and stealing two guitars, a guitar case and a compact disc case.

In a letter Durham sent to a judge in an unrelated case, Durham called the incident a “grave error in judgment” that resulted in a “potential criminal proceeding.”

On two separate occasions — once in 2002 and another in 2004 — Durham was cited for underage alcohol consumption.

In 2005, Durham was questioned by campus police when they saw a chair was on fire on the front lawn of Durham’s fraternity house. When an officer questioned Durham, he said he had just returned from the movies with his girlfriend and noticed the flaming chair, adding that he didn’t know how it happened. Durham was not charged and the case was closed.

In 2006, Durham called campus police to tell them his fraternity house was broken into and a $215 leather chair that Durham owned was stolen.

Reach Joel Ebert at 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29. Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.