A Black man says he was almost lynched by a group of white men in Indiana and some of the encounter was caught on video. Vauhxx Rush Booker took to Facebook to detail the Fourth of July attack. On Saturday, he chose to hang out with some friends to watch the lunar eclipse at Lake Monroe. On their way to the park, a white man who Booker described as “seemingly drunk,” approached them. He was wearing a shirt with a confederate flag printed on it.

“We noticed he began following us in an ATV and we stopped as he drove up behind us and then stated we were on private property,” Booker wrote. “We relayed to him that we believed the organizers had received permission from the property owners to cross, but apologized and went on to our beautiful site just off the water without any further incident. When we arrived, we told the event organizer of the encounter and it was relayed that the individual wasn’t the actual property owner and the organizer apologized.”

Booker then said that as they decided to leave, several more white men “quickly became aggressive” and told them to take the trail. Moments later, the men attacked Booker from behind and knocked him to the ground.

“I tussled with the two and another one joined in, then two more,” he continued. “The five [men] were able to easily overwhelm me and got me to the ground and dragged me, pinning my body against a tree as they began pounding on my head and ripped off some of my hair, with several of them still on top of my body holding me down. At one point during the attack, one of the men jumped on my neck. I could feel both his feet and his full bodyweight land hard against my neck.”

A group of white bystanders heard the commotion and came over to try to help Booker. The attackers reportedly told the growing group, “We’re going to break his arms” and instructed their friends to “get a noose.” A few moments later, they finally let Booker go.

Booker says he called 911, but was transferred to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Once DNR arrived, multiple witnesses showed them their video evidence and told them that the attackers yelled out “white power” along with other derogatory remarks. The men were not arrested or charged and Booker was told that the prosecutor’s office said that “there was no immediate need to arrest anyone and that the officers would simply file a report.”

Booker was diagnosed with a minor concussion and suffered from some bruises and abrasions. Check out clips of the alleged lynching attempt below.

I don’t want to recount this, but I was almost the victim of an attempted lynching. I don’t want this to have happened…

Posted by Vauhxx Rush Booker on Sunday, July 5, 2020