Economist Tyler Cowen Pepper Sprayed While Teaching Class at George Mason University

Economist, author, and George Mason University
professor Tyler
Cowen was pepper sprayed in his classroom today by a
man trying to place him under citizen’s arrest.
ArlNow.com reported on the incident, which took place at GMU’s
Arlington, Virginia, campus this afternoon.

Police say the man entered the classroom and attempted to place
the professor under a citizen’s arrest. The professor tried to get
the man—described as a white male in his 20s or 30s—to leave, at
which time the man pepper sprayed him and a scuffle ensued,
according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin
Sternbeck.

The professor did not know the man, Sternbeck said.

The ArlNow.com account didn’t identify the professor, but
several commenters said it was Cowen.

Tom Roussey, a
reporter with D.C.’s ABC7 news, then confirmed with GMU that it was
Cowen who was pepper sprayed. According to Roussey, the man entered
Cowen’s classroom this afternoon, said he was placing Cowen under
citizen’s arrest, and sprayed the pepper spray in Cowen’s face.
Cowen ran, the intruder chased him, and students in the hallway
caught the suspect and held him until the Arlington Police arrived
and arrested him. The man wasn’t a student, Arlington County police
officers say, and charges are pending. 

A few hours after the incident, at 6:35 p.m., Cowen
tweeted: 

Cowen and the dozen or so students in his classroom were
affected by the pepper spray but not taken to the hospital. No word
yet on what motivated the intruder.