A vice principal at a New Jersey middle school is being investigated after video posted to social media showed him angrily throwing a beer at restaurant patrons during a confrontation over the weekend, NJ.com reports.
The incident reportedly began when the wife of Michael Smurro started an argument with patrons over an apparent transgender woman who used the women's bathroom at the same time she did. According to a witness, Lisa Smurro made "repeated insensitive and transphobic remarks" within earshot of patrons, including a child.
The witness, identified as Carrie, said Lisa Smurro kept complaining about a transgender woman using the bathroom, repeating, "She's a man!"
"A man just went in the women's bathroom and it's just not right," Lisa Smurro says in one of the videos.
Later in the video, the couple approached patrons as Lisa Smurro continued to rant. Michael Smurro then tosses a beer towards the patrons and seemingly challenges one of them to a fight.
Speaking to NJ Advance, Lisa Smurro said the matter had to do with a private conversation she was having with her husband.
"My whole thing is, that restaurant provided a bathroom for transgenders, and that's where they should have gone," she said. "I just felt a little uncomfortable. Our daughter's not young anymore, but if she was young and I brought her in there, that would have made me very uncomfortable."
"They were just mocking us and smiling and sneering," she said of the patrons who were recording her. "We absolutely assaulted no one. We touched no one, we spoke to no one. We weren't bothering anyone. We were minding our own business, having our own conversation."
"We did nothing wrong, other than he did spill, throw a little bit of a beer. Yes, he got upset when he asked the guy to please stop videotaping me," Lisa Smurro said.