Marshall University (MU) dismissed running back Steward Butler in light of his arrest for assaulting two gay men apparently unprovoked.

According to the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, the school announced Butler's dismissal Wednesday only a matter of hours after the running back's arrest. Butler, 23, is charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery after punching two gay men for no apparent reason other than witnessing them kiss.

MU athletic director Mike Hamrick wrote on Twitter the decision to dismiss Butler was his and head football coach Doc Holliday's.

"The entire university community is shocked and disappointed to learn the details surrounding the alleged actions," Gary C. White, MU interim president, said a prepared statement. "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."

One of the victims of Butler's assault caught the incident on tape, which Huntington Police Det. Chris Sperry described to the Daily Beast. The police officer said Butler got out of a car after seeing the two men kiss and shouted expletive-laced homophobic slurs at them.

"It's just awful," the detective said of the April 5 assault. "They both get hit once in the face.

"One of the poor kids drops his camera and you hear his partner asking him 'Are you okay? You okay?'"

Reportedly shaken up just watching the video, Sperry said Butler was a passenger in the car and the driver called for the MU running back to get back in after the attack. The Daily Beast learned police identified the driver as a former MU football player "being scouted by NFL teams" as an undrafted free agent.

Sperry told both the Daily Beast and the Dispatch Butler initially tried to plead self-defense before backtracking when he learned the incident was caught on video.