LSU Students Protesting Alleged Rapist Damien Shanklin Being On Football Team Are Ejected From Board Meeting

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU Police escorted four protesters from the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting after they criticized LSU’s handling of an investigation into a rape allegation against LSU football player Damien Shanklin during the public comment period at the meeting on Friday morning.

LSU student Ziad Eissa told reporters outside that he and the three others tossed were protesting the overturning of Shanklin’s suspension from LSU after a LSU hearing panel had determined that he had raped a female LSU student allegedly on Oct. 18 of last year. Attorneys for Shanklin have maintained that Shanklin says is innocent as a criminal investigation of the accusations against him continues.

Eissa said he is a junior at LSU and a member of Students for a Democratic Society at LSU. He and three other students were chanting, “Shame on you” during the board meeting before being escorted out.

Outside the board meeting, a group of about 15 students chanted, “Expel Damien now” and carried signs saying similar things.

“It’s not that we don’t want to listen to him, but there’s a time and place, and right now is not the place,” Board chairman Lee Mallett said of Eissa during the meeting. “This kind of stuff is not going to be tolerated, not as long as I’m chair.”

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Shanklin is a redshirt freshman edge rusher for the Tigers from Indianapolis. He has not played this season, but he has been on the sidelines. He was suspended briefly in August from the team, but returned. In the 2025 season, Shanklin (6-foot-5, 254 pounds) played in five games and had two tackles on the season – both quarterback sacks.

“I can’t comment much on the Shanklin situation,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said on Sept. 28 at his regular Monday press conference. “Except we just followed what the university told us to do. We’re not allowed to do anything else in this situation.”

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Shanklin signed with LSU’s class of 2025 as the No. 31 edge rusher in the nation from Warren Central High in Indianapolis and the No. 6 player in the state of Indiana.

“This is a dangerous time on LSU’s campus,” Eissa said. “There’s a lot of sexual assault cases happening, and for the university to not want to hear the concerns of the students about this, it’s just very worrying. I fear for the safety of students on this campus and of women on this campus.”