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Marshall boots running back amid allegations he punched gay menBy MetroNews in Marshall Sports, News | May 06, 2015 at 3:42PM HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall senior running back Steward Butler was dismissed from the team Wednesday for allegedly punching two gay men he saw kissing.Athletics director Mike Hamrick announced the move via Twitter: “Coach Holliday and I have decided to dismiss Steward Butler from our program in light of additional information regarding his charges.”The decision came a few hours after Butler, 23, was arraigned in Cabell County Magistrate Court on two counts of battery.Huntington police said the incident occurred April 9 along Ninth Street. Butler was allegedly in a passing car when he witnessed the two men kiss along the sidewalk. The criminal complaint alleged Butler got out of the car, shouted slurs at the men and then struck the victims in the face with a closed fist.One of the victims reportedly captured the incident on video.Butler was arraigned on the misdemeanor charges Wednesday morning. Evidence was turned over to the FBI to review for possible civil rights violations. Butler was released on $10,000 personal recognizance bond.The university’s interim president Gary White said in a statement the “violent, bigoted behavior” alleged would not be tolerated at Marshall.“We will allow the legal process to run its course and will act swiftly and appropriately within our Student Conduct System and according to the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities as more details become clear,” White said.Hamrick initially stated that Butler had been suspended indefinitely.“We take all accusations against our student-athletes seriously, especially those of such a sensitive nature. We hold all of our 350-plus student-athletes to a high standard, on and off the playing surface, as ambassadors of Marshall University.”There were no specifics released about the “additional information” Hamrick referred to in his mid-afternoon tweet.Butler’s career with the Herd included 295 carries for 2,063 yards. He was expected to see a lot of playing time this fall.The following is White’s full statement:Quote“The entire university community is shocked and disappointed to learn the details surrounding the alleged actions that led to Mr. Butler’s arrest this morning.“The type of violent, bigoted behavior reported to have been perpetrated by this student is not tolerated at Marshall University. Period. This is an extremely serious matter.“We will allow the legal process to run its course and will act swiftly and appropriately within our Student Conduct System and according to the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities as more details become clear.”
“The entire university community is shocked and disappointed to learn the details surrounding the alleged actions that led to Mr. Butler’s arrest this morning.“The type of violent, bigoted behavior reported to have been perpetrated by this student is not tolerated at Marshall University. Period. This is an extremely serious matter.“We will allow the legal process to run its course and will act swiftly and appropriately within our Student Conduct System and according to the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities as more details become clear.”
Friday, May 29, 2015 Ex-Marshall football player indicted on civil rights violations By Erin Beck, Staff writer Charleston Gazette A former Marshall University football player has been indicted on two felony civil rights violations for allegedly punching two gay men after shouting derogatory slurs at them in April.Steward Butler was dismissed from the team over his arrest earlier this month. He allegedly hit the two men, Zackery Johnson and Casey Williams, on April 5, after he saw them kiss at Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street, in Huntington, according to a criminal complaint filed in Cabell County Magistrate Court. The complaint states that Butler, who was the passenger in a passing vehicle, got out of the vehicle, shouted derogatory words related to their sexual orientation, and then punched both men in the face.A Cabell County grand jury indicted Butler on two felony counts of violating an individual’s civil rights and two counts of misdemeanor battery, according to records unsealed Friday afternoon. West Virginia’s hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation, but Prosecutor Sean “Corky” Hammers said his office charged Butler with a hate crime anyway, 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. Hammers said there is legal precedence that supports the strategy.“I couldn’t let it go with misdemeanor battery, based on his actions,” he said.For allegedly violating the state’s civil rights law, Butler faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 on each charge. For the battery charges, he faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $500 on each. Andrew Schneider, executive director of the LGBT-rights organization Fairness West Virginia, said prosecutors shouldn’t have had to find a loophole and charge Butler with a hate crime based on gender. Schneider advocates for including sexual orientation and gender identity in the state civil rights code, which considers “race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex.”“The prosecutor’s decision to charge Steward Butler with a gender-based hate crime underscores the lack of protections for the LGBT community,” Schneider said, “and this is something Fairness West Virginia will be working on with legislators and other interested parties to address in the next legislative session.”Schneider acknowledged that the prosecutor’s decision showed that he viewed it as a serious crime but added that motivation for the alleged crime was obvious.“There should be protections for the LGBT community in this law because, clearly, the attack was based on their sexual orientation,” he said. “Obviously, they’re also male, but I think everyone who is aware of this crime knows that these two individuals were targeted because of their sexual orientation.”Schneider also said the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to the state hate crimes law will have an impact on even those who don’t identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.“The assault that occurred not only impacted the individuals who were physically harmed,” he said, “but it also impacts that community that they came from.”
"We Are Marshall" is one of my favorite Matthew McConaughey movies...
Worlds are colliding. Black man indicted for violating homosexual man's civil rights.It probably would be more accurate to say they were targeted because of their actions, not their orientation, but I guess that's a minor point.
That's a new twist for a Marshall football player - hate crime! Usually, it's the starting-to-get-boring arrests for armed robbery or drugs every year.
I guess the WVU players will focus on that niche. Herd - take care of the hate crimes for us, will you?
Court opinions are often dry reads, but page four of State Supreme Court Chief Justice Allen Loughry’s majority opinion in State v. Steward Butler is an attention grabber. “Through this appeal, we are asked to examine the meaning of the word ‘sex’ as used in West Virginia Code.” ...The law makes no mention of sexual orientation. Loughry points out that “there have been at least 26 attempts to amend the statute to include ‘sexual orientation’ and each attempt has failed.” That’s a significant point; if the Legislature had intended to include sexual orientation there would be no need to try to amend the law.Justice Margaret Workman, writing the dissent for herself and Justice Robin Davis, tries mightily to connect dots in a way that expands the law to include sexual orientation. She argues that the two victims were attacked because of their sex. “Attacking a male and shouting homophobic slurs because he is kissing a man most certainly qualifies as committing an act ‘because of sex’.”It’s a worthy effort by Workman, but it bypasses the Legislature’s intent. As Loughry points out, the courts cannot read into a law what is not there. “This precept is particularly crucial to our analysis when the State essentially asks this court to judicially amend West Virginia Code 61-6-21 by expanding it to create a new felony when the Legislature has repeatedly chosen not to do so.” ...
Former Marshall player Butler pleads guilty to striking gay menBy MetroNews Staff in Marshall Sports, News, SportsJuly 31, 2017 at 7:56PMHUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Former Marshall University football player Steward Butler pleaded guilty Monday to charges in connection to an April 2015 attack.Butler, who was running back, is accused of striking two gay men on a 9th Street sidewalk in Huntington.Butler said in a Cabell County courtroom he did hit both men. He also said he would fail a drug test because of marijuana use.He was previously indicted on a felony civil rights violation charge, which was dismissed by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.Butler faces up to a year in prison in addition to up to a $500 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25.
Interesting that they didn't charge him with an obvious hate crime. He needs to move to FCS immediately.
