An attempted lynching over the July 4th weekend in Bloomington, Indiana is currently under investigation as a hate crime.
Racism
An attempted lynching. Yes, let that sink in for a moment. In the year 2020, an African-American man was the target of an attempted lynching.
According to Vauhxx Booker of Bloomington, he was hiking with friends in a wooded area near Lake Monroe on July 4th when he was attacked by 5 white men. Booker said he was targeted for being black and that the men were “looking to provoke a conflict.”
“I don’t want to recount this, but I was almost the victim of an attempted lynching,” Booker said Sunday in a post to his Facebook page. “I don’t want this to have happened to me or anyone. It hurts my soul, and my pride, but there are multiple witnesses and it can’t be hidden or avoided.
“On July 4th evening others and me were victims of what I would describe as a hate crime. I was attacked by five white men (with confederate flags) who literally threatened to lynch me in front of numerous witnesses,” he said.
“The individuals were calm for a moment then quickly became aggressive,” Booker continued. Next, he heard a statement that convinced him the unprovoked confrontation was racially motivated. “Get a noose,” one of the men said during the attack.
The men then grabbed Booker and pulled him away from his friends. “They dragged me, pinning my body against a tree as they began pounding on my head and ripped off some of my hair.”
Fortunately, 3 eyewitnesses were on the scene and simultaneously filmed the attack while also attempting to stop it.
“My enduring gratitude to those who stopped merely being bystanders and acted to aid me,” Booker said.
“The incident is under investigation and the final report will be forwarded to the Monroe County prosecutor’s office upon completion,” said Captain Jet Quillen of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Sadly, the attempted lynching of Vauhxx Booker is not the first case of its kind in 2020. Multiple men of color were found hanged in Texas, California, and New York.
- In mid-June, a 17-year-old boy was found hanging from a tree in the playground area of Ehrhardt Elementary School in Spring, Texas.
- Also in June, a Hispanic man was found hanging from a tree in Houston.
- In Southern California, a black man was found hanging in a park near Palmdale City Hall.
- In New York, a black man was found hanging from a tree with a rope around his neck in Upper Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park.
Somehow, officials ruled each of the hanging deaths a suicide. However, there is no way men of color suddenly took to hanging themselves all within days of each other.
Below are 4 videos of the attack against Vauhxx Booker in Indiana. Be forewarned, the language and images are extremely graphic.
According to Vauhxx Booker of Bloomington, he was hiking with friends in a wooded area near Lake Monroe on July 4th when he was attacked by 5 white men. […]
I’m at work and can’t really turn up the volume right now but I watched a bit of the video. Was his friends the ones who videotaped the whole thing?