Civil rights activist faces expenses after reporting racist assault in Indiana | Indiana

A black civil rights activist who reported that a group of white men assaulted him and threatened to “get a noose” at a lake in southern Indiana is charged with two of the alleged attackers more than a year after the confrontation that had previously occurred led, prosecuted.

Vauhxx Booker, a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, was charged with misdemeanor and assault on his involvement in the July 4th incident at Lake Monroe last year.

Booker condemned the decision, calling it a “egregious act of punitive retaliation and vindictiveness by the prosecution”.

The NAACP in the Monroe district called for the immediate cessation of the charges against Booker and called for the resignation of Special Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp.

“This incident has been an ongoing case in which a victim falls victim to the system again,” Booker’s legal team said in a statement Monday.

“It is the victim of this attack – Vauhxx Booker – who has to pay to stand up to malicious racial abuse, physical assault and threats against his life.”

The alleged attack caught national attention last summer when Booker said he called 911 after five men attacked him and pinned him to a tree by the lake south of Bloomington.

He said the men accused him of trespassing and after he tried to apologize the situation became physical.

Booker said the men threatened to break his arms and said “get yourself a noose” while telling his friends to leave the area.

He said one of the men was wearing a hat adorned with a Confederate flag and that the men had made statements about “white power”.

Witnesses who were at Booker’s that day said they heard racial slurs and that someone said, “Get the noose” and “Leave the boy here, we’ll take care of him”.

A cell phone video posted on Facebook showing part of the argument has been viewed millions of times online.

The FBI said it was investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, although no further updates on the investigation were released.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which responded to the reported attack, recommended indicting all concerned.

However, Monroe prosecutors have only charged two white men. Sean Purdy faces criminal imprisonment charges, assault resulting in minor bodily harm and intimidation.

Jerry Cox II has been charged with criminal detention and assault, which resulted in moderate assault and two offenses.

Cox and Purdy alleged Booker trespassed and threatened them first, and they denied the noose allegations. This case is pending.