Dad Attacked in Men's Bathroom for Bringing 5-Year-Old Daughter in  to Pee

A dad trying to take his 5-year-old daughter with him to the men's bathroom was violently attacked in a Utah Walmart, reports Salt Lake City TV station KSL.

Christopher Adams said the man started "freaking out" because "my daughter was in the men's bathroom." Adams was trying to leave the bathroom with his daughter, Emery, and 7-year-old son, Kyler, when he was sucker-punched in the face by the unidentified man, then repeatedly hit and kicked. Adams fought back and pinned the man on the ground while waiting for help. His children hid in a locked stall, reports The Daily Beast.

Some LGBT activists called it a case of "bathroom panic," though local reporting doesn't mention LGBT people. The Daily Beast, which described it as "an eerie echo of the trans panic sweeping America," spoke with Adams.

"I don't know what he was freaking out about," Adams told the Beast. "The only thing that makes sense in my head at the time was the whole Obama thing with forcing transgenders to use bathrooms."

Adams told the Beast that he "never gave much thought" to the Obama adminstration asking schools to stop discriminating against transgender students by letting them use bathrooms that match their gender identity, but "now I do." The experience left him saying, "It shouldn't matter what you identify with, but families should be allowed to go to the bathroom without trouble."

Watch a video interview with Adams and family from KSL below: