HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Former Marshall University running back Steward Butler was indicted Friday on two felony and two misdemeanor charges for allegedly punching two gay men after seeing them kiss on a Huntington sidewalk last April.
Butler was dismissed from the team last month after the April 5 incident.
According to Huntington police, Butler got out of a vehicle and struck Zackery Johnson and Casey Williams and shouted slurs at them relating to being gay.
Butler was charged with two felony counts of violating an individual’s civil rights and two counts of misdemeanor battery.
On the civil rights charges, Butler faces up to 10 years in jail and a $5,000 fine on each charge. He faces up to a year in jail and a $500 fine on each of the battery charges.
West Virginia’s hate crime laws don’t include sexual orientation, but prosecutors charged Butler for hate crimes anyway based on sex. Butler was entering his senior season for the Thundering Herd.