#White men charged in alleged July 4 assault of black man in Indiana

Two white men in Indiana are facing charges in an alleged Fourth of July assault on a black man who claimed he feared he was about to be lynched, prosecutors said.

Sean Purdy, 44, and Jerry Edward Cox II, 38, were charged after a “thorough review” of evidence, including video footage, in the alleged attack on Vauhxx Booker at Lake Monroe, Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Erika Oliphant announced Friday.

Purdy was charged with three felonies, including criminal confinement, battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and intimidation, Oliphant said.

Cox was charged with two felonies — aiding, inducing or causing criminal confinement and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury — as well as misdemeanor counts of intimidation and battery, according to the prosecutor.

In a lengthy account posted on Facebook, Booker said five men accused him of trespassing on private property, pinned him to a tree and threatened to break his arms before one of them said to “get a noose” during the July 4 encounter.

“I don’t want to recount this, but I was almost the victim of an attempted lynching,” Booker wrote. “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.”

Booker, a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, and his attorney, Katherine Liell, told reporters at a news conference Friday they were “relieved” by the charges but said the development was “just the first step” toward getting accountability in the case, which the FBI said it was investigating earlier this month.

“This whole thing has been an exercise in vulnerability for me,” Booker said. “But this is about justice. What I want now is for our neighbors to do their part and determine the fate of these individuals.”

Purdy’s attorney, meanwhile, told NBC News he was “obviously disappointed” by Oliphant’s decision to charge his client, alleging Booker was trespassing on private property at the time of the heated encounter.

“Indiana law allows citizens to make arrests of people punching other people on private property, and to use reasonable force in doing so,” attorney Mark Kamish said Saturday. “Indiana has a broad self-defense. We would welcome a jury trial next week so the stigma of false and wrongful accusations can be exposed.”

Witnesses told responding Indiana Department of Natural Resources investigators that Booker had threatened them and punched Purdy three times during the incident, according to a report released last week.

Booker could potentially face charges of misdemeanor battery and trespassing, state investigators concluded in the report, NBC News said.

But Booker’s attorney dismissed the DNR report, saying it “erased evidence of racism and of a hate crime” while trying to discredit her client.

“Of course he didn’t commit a battery,” said Liell, who has called for the alleged assault to be investigated as a hate crime. “They tried to make Vauhxx Booker look like he wasn’t credible.”

With Post wires