Shia LaBeouf reportedly “screamed” anti-gay slurs at two men during and after an incident that led to the actor’s arrest for battery in New Orleans earlier this week.

As has been widely reported, LaBeouf was taken into custody early Tuesday morning and charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery. In a statement provided to People, police said they arrived at a bar in the city’s Marginy district shortly before 1 a.m. on February 17.

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“Investigators say a man identified as 39-year-old Shia LaBeouf was reportedly causing a disturbance and becoming increasingly aggressive at a Royal Street business. A staff member attempted to eject Mr. LaBeouf from the establishment. Once removed from the building, the victim reported being struck by LaBeouf who used his closed fists on the victim several times,” according to the statement. Police say the Transformers actor left the scene, but returned “acting even more aggressive.”

“Multiple people attempted to hold him down — he was eventually let up in hopes that he would leave — but he reportedly again struck the same victim with closed fists to the victim’s upper body. LaBeouf then reportedly assaulted another person, punching him in the nose,” the statement continues. “LaBeouf was again held down until police arrived.”

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After being treated at a local hospital and charged, LaBeouf, who has spoken about his history of substance abuse and has been arrested multiple times for similar conduct, was reportedly released on his own recognizance pending a March 19 court date. Video later surfaced online of the actor partying on Bourbon Street during the city’s Mardi Gras festivities Tuesday night with his release papers in his mouth.

Since then, the two men LaBeouf allegedly assaulted have spoken out about the altercation, claiming the actor shouted anti-gay slurs at them.

LA-based writer and performer Jeffrey Damnit told The Guardian Wednesday that he was dressed in drag when he encountered LaBeouf at the Royal Street bar on Monday night/Tuesday morning. He claims the actor attacked him “while screaming, ‘You’re a f**king fa***t.’”

Damnit also reportedly shared a cellphone video with the outlet of LaBeouf being treated by first responders after authorities arrived at the scene. According to The Guardian, the clip shows LaBeouf glancing at Damnit and saying “fa***t.”

Court documents also allege that LaBeouf punched a second man, Nathan Thomas Reed, who identifies as queer. “I want it to be known that he was calling people fa***t,” Reed told the outlet via text message.

According to The Guardian, an initial police report indicates that LaBeouf repeatedly used the same anti-gay slur to refer to both men, at one point saying, “These fa***ts put me in jail – I’m a Catholic.”

But as both the Guardian and local Fox affiliate WVUE report, those details were left out of charging documents and a police statement to the media.

“I mean, it’s a hate crime, right? You’re beating people up because somewhere in your mind their sexuality goes against what you think should get to live,” Damnit told WVUE.

Louisiana’s hate crimes statute includes sexual orientation as a protected class, but as legal analyst Joe Raspanti told the station, “Ultimately, it’s up to the district attorney to determine if it in fact crosses the certain lines you have to cross to make it a hate crime. If it does, it’s a lot bigger offense with a lot bigger penalties.”

“This remains an ongoing investigation that has to be adjudicated in court,” a police spokesperson told The Guardian in a statement. “Should additional information become available for release, we will provide an update accordingly.”

This week’s incident is not the first time LaBeouf has been caught on video using an anti-gay slur. In 2008, the actor expressed regret and embarrassment via a statement from his representatives, after a video surfaced online of LaBeouf repeatedly calling a friend “fa***t.”

As The Guardian notes, LaBeouf also allegedly called a New York City police officer a “f*g” while being arrested for disrupting a Broadway show in 2014.

Additionally, the day before his arrest in New Orleans, The Hollywood Reporter published a report in which multiple employees of bars across the city described LaBeouf’s drunken and belligerent behavior in the days leading up to Mardi Gras.

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