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Former Marshall RB charged with felony civil rights violations
Former Marshall running back Steward Butler has been accused of two felony civil rights violations stemming from an alleged April assault on a gay couple in Huntington, W.Va.
Butler, 23, also was indicted on two counts of misdemeanor battery.
On April 5, Butler was riding in a vehicle when he witnessed two men kissing on a street corner.
Butler got out of the car, proceeded to yell homosexual slurs at the men and then struck both men in the face with a closed fist.
According to Huntington detective Chris Sperry, one of the victims caught the encounter on video.
Butler turned himself into police on May 6 and was released on a $10,000 bond. Marshall dismissed him from the program later in the day and he is no longer enrolled in school.
According to the Associated Press, West Virginia's civil rights law does not include protection for sexual orientation.
Prosecutor Sean "Corky" Hammers said his office charged Butler with a hate crime based on sex instead of sexual orientation, because prosecutors believe Butler wouldn't have committed the crime if one of the members of the couple had been a woman.
"The case needed some serious consideration because of what he did," Hammers said.
If Butler is convicted of a civil rights violation, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 for each charge.
Butler, a senior, had 798 yards and seven touchdowns for the Thundering Herd last season.
For more Marshall news, visit HerdNation.com.
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