The irate husband seen charging the stage at a medical conference before violently slapping a gynecologist for allegedly sexually assaulting his wife has been identified for the first time.
DailyMail.com can reveal the man in the now-viral video taken at an annual American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) conference on May 20 is 41-year-old Miami-based filmmaker Rodrigo Herzog.
Herzog, along with his doctor wife, traveled to Baltimore for the event, where he sensationally accused Dr. William Burke of ‘touching’ his spouse when she was his student in med school, in a dramatic public confrontation.
The shocking outburst came as Burke, the director of gynecologic oncology at Stony Brook University Cancer Center, was moderating a panel discussion and opened the group to questions from the audience.
DailyMail.com can reveal the man in the now-viral video taken at an annual ACOG conference in Baltimore on May 20 is Miami filmmaker Rodrigo Herzog, 41
In a now viral video, the irate man is seen approaching the podium to slap Dr. William Burke multiple times while hurling insults at him and accusing him of sexually assaulting his wife
Herzog’s wife – who DailyMail.com has chosen not to name – stood up to take part in the Q&A before firing a loaded question at Burke, asking whether he abides by industry guidelines on sexual misconduct.
What happened next was captured on video that has since been widely circulated on social media, showing a furious Herzog standing up and charging towards the stage to slap the doctor before tearing into him.
‘This motherf***er sexually assaulted my wife seven years ago,’ he shouted. ‘You know what you did. You touched my wife seven years ago in New York. Don’t be an a******. B***h!’
Burke was serving as a panelist at an annual conference for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) when the incident took place
He went on to accuse Burke of touching his wife ‘on the best day of her life, when she became a doctor.’
Speaking in Portuguese in a video shared on Instagram Monday, Herzog stood by his actions, saying he was aggressively defending his wife who was allegedly assaulted.
He starts off saying: ‘You have seen a video of a man aggressively defending his wife who was sexually assaulted. And the only thing that you had to say was “oh, how violent, how violent.”‘
But, he asks, ‘what if it was your wife, daughter?’
DailyMail.com has learned that the alleged incident involving Herzog’s wife took place while Burke was a professor at Columbia University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology – where she completed a four-year medical program in 2016.
In 2017, Burke was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) and Columbia’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
ACOG, which has faced some criticism for the security breach at the conference and questions about the underlying sex assault allegation, issued a statement on Twitter Monday that the organization ‘strongly condemns sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct.
‘We’re committed to taking action,’ it adds.
Herzog has since addressed the incident in a video shared on his Instagram account, where he doubled down against his critics
Herzog could be seen grabbing the doctor by his shirt before slapping him with his hand
During the confrontation, the furious husband goes on to declare the assault on the doctor as retaliation for men who harm women in such a manner
When a woman called out for security, defiant Herzog retorted: ‘You can call security, the police! I don’t give a f***!’
During the confrontation, the furious husband went on to declare the assault on the doctor as retaliation for men who harm women in such a manner.
‘This is for all men who sexually assault women,’ he continues. ‘Be a f***ing man!’
As he stood on the stage, his wife could be seen walking up toward him. She stood a few steps behind him, not intervening, and left the room with him.
Afterward, the two of them were confronted by security and other conference attendees.
Snippets of their follow-up comments are captured on another video. The woman is asked about the alleged incident, and she appears to say that she did report him at the time, but doesn’t mention any police involvement.
One person admonishes Herzog, saying ‘there’s a better way to do this’ than through violence, and tells him, ‘You can press charges,’ to which he replies: ‘I don’t want to. I don’t want to.’
The initial confrontation lasted more than two minutes and was captured on a video that went viral.
When a woman is heard calling for security, the defiant man becomes further enraged, challenging: ‘You can call security, the police! I don’t give a f***!’
At one point, an individual off-camera can be heard laughing prompting the audience member to return to the panelists’ table and confront the doctor once again.
‘Seven years I’ve been waiting for this. Seven years! My wife is suffering because you are a f***ing predator,’ he continues.
Speaking to DailyMail.com outside his Setauket, Long Island home with a woman believed to be his wife on Sunday, Dr. William Burke confirmed he will be pressing charges against his attacker
Burke, the director of gynecologic oncology at Stony Brook University Cancer Center, responded to the incident while doing gardening work with his partner at his tony estate
The 53-year-old physician lives at a white, tony estate near the Long Island Sound
‘And you know what you did! Don’t be a f***ing b***h! You touched my wife! This a****** like to touch women.’
Speaking exclusively with the DailyMail.com, the person who filmed the video, a medical resident, said he reached for his cellphone after the woman asked Burke the question, and he saw her husband stirring.
‘Given this odd question I pulled out my phone because I saw the husband start approaching the stage,’ he said.
‘When he seemed so out of control, I was scared but knew I should record.’
‘People have mentioned how we all did nothing…. but we were all in shock,’ he continued.
After the event, he tried to track the woman so he could share the video with her. Then he posted it online.
‘I hope she feels some sort of justice now,’ he said. ‘I hope she knows she is not alone.’
When reached for comment by the doorman of his Miami apartment building, DailyMail.com was told he did not want to talk about the incident.
Burke, 53, initially declined to press charges or file a report against the man, preferring instead that the husband be simply escorted off the premises, according to the Baltimore Police Department.
But Burke changed his mind and has since told DailyMail.com that he will indeed press charges.
‘The only thing that’s obvious is that I was assaulted on video,’ Dr. William Burke told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview at his home in Setauket on Sunday.
Stony Brook Medicine Cancer Center where Dr. William M Burke is the director of gynecologic oncology
Burke spoke out while gardening in the backyard of his tony estate near the Long Island Sound.
Asked whether he will pursue criminal charges, Burke replied, without hesitation: ‘I will be.’
But he refused to address the attacker’s claims that he ‘sexually assaulted’ his wife in 2016.
The physician denied knowing him.
‘I don’t know who he is,’ Burke replied. ‘I don’t know his name.’
He also would not confirm whether or not he knew the man’s wife or had any prior relationship with her.
Although Burke initially rejected charges, a Baltimore police spokesman told DailyMail.com on Monday that the doctor has up to a year to change his mind.
If he wishes to proceed, he would have to file a new statement of charges detailing what happened to the city’s Court Commissioner’s Office.
Police, with evidence that would include the video, would then execute an arrest and likely charge the perpetrator with common assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center confirmed it is still looking into the allegations in a statement to DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
‘We treat all forms of misconduct and abuse extremely seriously. We are in the process of learning more about a recent allegation made against a former faculty member who left Columbia in 2017 and will take appropriate steps once our review is complete.’
