The FBI is monitoring the case of a black man who says he was the victim of an attempted lynching in Indiana on July 4. Vauhxx Booker described an encounter with people who yelled "white power" in a Sunday Facebook post, which was accompanied by a video showing him being pinned against a tree, per BuzzFeed. Booker wrote that five men beat him up, pulled out his hair, and threatened to break his arms, and one of the group yelled "get a noose." The encounter began when a male in a hat marked with the Confederate flag informed Booker and a friend that they were trespassing on private property, Booker wrote. He noted the pair apologized before continuing on to the public shore of Lake Monroe near Bloomington to meet friends. But the man and several others were later found to have "blocked off the public beach way ... claiming that it was also their land," Booker wrote.
He noted someone yelled "white power" before Booker was attacked by five men, one of whom "jumped on my neck" with "both his feet." Witnesses soon began filming. But the attackers "kept telling onlookers to leave the 'boy' and that everyone else (all white) could go," wrote Booker. Videos show one man referring to Booker as a "nappy-headed b----" and stating "you invaded us." Booker was eventually freed by bystanders. But "I truly believe that Vauhxx would have been killed by those animals if people weren't there," his lawyer tells the Indianapolis Star. The Department of Natural Resources responded to a 911 call, but no arrests were made. The DNR says it's investigating, per WTHR, and working with the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office "to ensure lawful resolution." City officials, meanwhile, have condemned the incident as showing "the persistence of racism and bias," per WBIW. (More lynching stories.)
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