Two white men who authorities said helped hold a black man against a tree by an Indiana lake on July 4 were charged with assault and other crimes on Friday.
The charges against the men, Sean M. Purdy and Jerry Edward Cox II, came after Vauhxx Booker, a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission in Bloomington, Indiana, said on Facebook that a group of men had attacked and threatened. to “get a rope”.
The video for the episode generated widespread condemnation, and the FBI said it was investigating the confrontation, which Katharine C. Liell, Booker’s attorney, said was clearly a racially motivated hate crime. Ms. Liell said that Mr. Purdy had been wearing a hat with a Confederate flag, which upset Mr. Booker.
Booker said he learned Friday that he had tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Liell said the men had spat and yelled in Mr. Booker’s face when they confronted him on July 4.
“We need to realize that we are all human and that this quest is for justice, rather than revenge,” Booker, 36, said Friday at a Zoom news conference with Ms. Liell. “I want us to understand that responsibility, which is what I ask for, is not the same as punishment.”
Mr. Purdy, 44, was charged with three felonies: criminal confinement, intimidation, and battery that resulted in moderate bodily injury, according to Erika Oliphant, the prosecutor in Monroe County, Indiana.
Oliphant said that Mr. Cox, 38, was charged with two serious crimes: aiding, abetting, or causing criminal confinement and assault that resulted in moderate bodily injury, as well as three minor charges of intimidation and battery.
In a statement, one of Mr. Purdy’s attorneys, Mark Kamish, said the legal team was “obviously disappointed” with Ms. Oliphant’s decision to charge Mr. Purdy but not Mr. Booker, whom statement called Mr. Purdy’s “illegal assailant”. “
The statement said the “evidence-based and legitimate recommendation of charges by law enforcement officers” had been ignored.
“Indiana law allows citizens to make arrests of people who beat others on private property, and to use reasonable force to do so,” the statement said. “Indiana also has a broad personal defense statute.”
Liell said it was unclear whether Mr. Booker had actually beaten Mr. Purdy or Mr. Cox during the fight.
“He was trying to protect himself,” he said. “If you really did get in touch with someone, I don’t think even Mr. Booker knows about it.”
Cox’s attorney, Joseph Lozano, said he would not comment on a pending case.
Booker said the meeting began after he and his friends got together to watch a lunar eclipse on Lake Monroe, a large beach near Bloomington that is about 60 miles south of Indianapolis.
A group of white men told Mr. Booker and his friends that they were on private property, he said on Facebook.
Part of the confrontation was captured on a cell phone video that Mr. Booker posted online. The video shows a man holding Mr. Booker against a tree while other people surround him. Spectators can be heard asking them to let it go.
“I was attacked by five white men,” Booker said on Facebook, “who literally threatened to lynch me in front of numerous witnesses.” He said he had heard men say “catch a knot” and use racial slurs.
Mr. Booker said that passersby finally made the men stop and that he and his friends left the area and called the authorities. In another video, the men can be seen following Mr. Booker and his friends, accusing them of trespassing and scolding them with profanity.
In his Facebook post, Mr. Booker said he had a mild concussion, some abrasions, bruises and hair loss from being ripped off.
According to a report submitted by an investigator from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the footage of the confrontation showed that it was Mr. Purdy who held Mr. Booker against the tree.
In an interview for the report, Mr. Purdy acknowledged that he had been wearing a cowboy hat with a Confederate flag and drinking “quite a bit” that day. Purdy said that he had broken through between his girlfriend, Caroline McCord, and Mr. Booker after Mr. Booker started yelling at Mrs. McCord.
“Don’t talk to my lady like that,” said Purdy, who told Booker, according to the report. “You are here on our property. You’re not going to come here and do this. “
Mr. Purdy claimed that Mr. Booker had hit him in the jaw, causing a large bruise on his chin. He said his memory was “a little fuzzy” after that and he did not recall how he ended up holding Mr. Booker against a tree, according to the report.
Ms. McCord said she told Mr. Booker and his friends before the confrontation that they were on private property owned by his father, according to the report.
She said Mr. Booker then told him that he was the county commissioner and said, “Do you know how many fines I can charge you?” according to the report.
Ms. McCord said she asked Mr. Booker to leave, but Mr. Booker became aggressive and said, “I am going to make your life miserable. You could put all these fines on your land and you won’t even know what to do, “according to the report.
In the report, Mr. Cox told an investigator that he had probably consumed a “12-pack” that day and that he “had a good buzz.” He said that Mr. Booker had hit him in the eye and that he had hit him twice. He said that neither he nor anyone else had said “get a rope,” although he acknowledged that he had used a racial slur and “regretted that,” according to the report.
As videos of the confrontation were released online, they sparked outrage from officials and helped fuel a protest in the city on July 6. That night, a driver of a red Toyota turned into a crowd of protesters, injuring at least two people.
Ms. Liell said the FBI was investigating the case as a possible hate crime. The FBI said Friday that it does not comment on ongoing investigations.
In a statement, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton and city secretary Nicole Bolden condemned the confrontation, saying a group “physically assaulted and denounced and threatened racial epithets of a black Bloomington resident.”
