Black activist Vauhxx Booker accused two men of threatening him with a noose in an attack last year, but now he’s facing charges in connection with the incident.
Booker, who lives in Bloomington, Indiana, accused two white men, Sean Purdy and Jerry Edward Cox, of assaulting him on July 4, 2020 when he was walking to a park to meet with friends. He claimed that at one point during the assault, one of the attackers directed a racial slur at him and told someone to “get a noose.” Purdy claimed to state investigators that he got into an argument with Booker and a friend of his because they were on “private property,” and that Booker punched him during the incident.
The two men were arrested and charged with criminal confinement, intimidation, and battery. Monroe County Prosecutor Erika Oliphant, who charged Purdy and Cox, was later replaced by special prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp. On Friday, Leerkamp charged Booker with felony battery and misdemeanor criminal trespass. A report from state investigators indicated there were multiple crimes committed by the two white men, but also by Booker. Oliphant initially refused to charge Booker, but Leerkamp decided differently.
In a press conference held this week, NBC News reports that Booker has criticized the decision to charge him. He claimed that while he was originally open to resolving the case, he’s since decided otherwise because he would be required to sign a confidentiality agreement and apologize to the men who targeted him in an allegedly racially motivated attack.
"I'm not going to back down from this. I'm not going to just let these folks go on about their life like they didn't victimize me. I'm going to stand up for myself," Booker said. "Once again, there's nothing more American than charging a Black man in his own attempted lynching. I wasn't surprised because, for the entire year the special prosecutor has pressured and bullied me at every turn that if I didn't … let charges be dismissed that she would charge me.”
Booker added that the charges against him did not stem from “any new evidence or any shocking revelation,” but that he “was telling a white person no and they were going to punish me.” His attorney, Katharine Liell, called the charges “unprecedented.”
“I've been practicing well over 30 years in this state and I've only done criminal defense my entire career and I have never seen a special prosecutor open a new case and file it against somebody a year later,” she added.
In a statement on the matter, Leerkamp said that Booker is “presumed innocent of any charges that have been filed,” but ultimately concluded that they are “ethically restrained from commenting upon the evidence prior to its presentation at trial.”
Booker previously shared a video that showed him being pinned against a tree, and his original post on the matter said that one of his attackers was wearing a confederate hat. He said that he apologized and attempted to “smooth over” the situation, but it escalated when the two men jumped him “from behind and knocked me to the ground.” From there, they allegedly dragged him and pinned him against a tree.
