A black activist who said that a group of white men assaulted him, pinned him to a tree and threatened to 'get a noose' has now been hit with felony charges in connection with the incident that made national headlines.
Vauhxx Booker, 37, a local civil rights leader and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, was charged with misdemeanor trespass and felony battery last week.
He was hit with the charges over his involvement in the confrontation that took place on July 4, 2020, at Lake Monroe, Indiana, according to court documents filed last Friday by a special prosecutor in the case.
Booker condemned the decision, calling it an 'outrageous act of punitive retaliation and prosecutorial vindictiveness.'
During a press conference held on Monday outside Monroe County courthouse, Booker said: 'there’s nothing more American than charging a black man in his own attempted lynching,'
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Vauhxx Booker (center), who claimed to have been attacked by a group of white men in July 2020, speaks during a press conference on August 2 after a special prosecutor charged him with felony assault and trespassing over a year later
Booker's alleged attackers Sean Purdy (left) and Jerry Cox II (right) were charged with felonies last summer
Booker slammed the decision to bring charges against him as an 'outrageous act of punitive retaliation and prosecutorial vindictiveness'
If convicted as charged, Booker could face more than three years in prison and $15,000 in fines.
The Monroe County Branch of the NAACP demanded that the charges against Booker be dropped immediately and called for the special prosecutor, Sonia Leerkamp, to resign.
'This incident has been a continual case of a victim being re-victimized by the system,' Booker's legal team said in statement Monday. 'It is the victim in this assault - Vauhxx Booker - who is being made to pay for having stood his ground against malicious racist name-calling, physical assault, and threats against his life.'
The alleged assault gained widespread attention last summer when Booker said he called 911 after five white men attacked him and pushed him against a tree at the lake just south of Bloomington.
He said the men accused him of trespassing on private property and, after he tried to apologize, the situation turned physical.
Part of the July 4, 2020, confrontation at an Indiana lake was captured on video, which shows at least three white men pinning Booker to a tree. Booker posted the footage on Facebook along with his version of events
Footage recorded by Booker shows several of the white men cursing and using racially-charged language at him after he said onlookers were able to pull him out of harm's way
Booker said the men threatened to break his arms and said, 'get a noose,' while telling his friends to leave the area. He said one of the men wore a hat decorated with a Confederate flag and that the men made statements about 'white power.'
Witnesses who were with Booker that day said they heard racial slurs being shouted and that someone said 'get a noose' and 'leave the boy here, we will take care of him.'
Cellphone video posted on Facebook that showed part of the altercation was viewed millions of times online.
The FBI said it was investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, although no further updates have been provided about the investigation.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which responded to the reported assault, recommended charges against everyone involved, including Booker.
Monroe County prosecutors only charged two white men, however. Sean Purdy faces charges of felony criminal confinement, battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and intimidation. Jerry Cox II was charged with felony criminal confinement and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, as well as two misdemeanors.
Cox and Purdy claimed Booker was trespassing and denied the allegations regarding a
