Baylor associate AD charged with assault after attacking journalist

A Baylor official has been charged with assault after attacking a sportswriter following the Bear's 62-22 loss to TCU on Nov. 5.

Heath Nielsen, an associate athletic director at Baylor, was freed on bond Monday following his arrest for assaulting James McBride, a sportswriter for a community newspaper called The Blaze News. McBride had been granted permission to take a picture of an unnamed football player.

An arrest warrant obtained by KWTX 10 states that "Nielsen walked up to McBride on the right, grabbed McBride by the throat with his right hand, squeezed and pushed him away from the football player."

McBride told Troy Hein and Mikel Lauber of KWTZ on Monday that he had been taking a photo with the player when he heard someone begin to yell at him, saying he wasn't allowed to take photos while on the field.

"About that time they came in and tomahawk-chopped, trying to knock the phone that I had taken the picture with out of my hand," McBride said. "They were unsuccessful in trying to do that, and when they couldn't do that they came up and they grabbed my throat, and I pulled back. Whenever I looked up I saw that it was Heath Nielsen."

Nielsen was officially charged with assault with bodily injury, which is a Class-A misdemeanor.

Baylor has yet to comment on the incident.