By Viviane Faver
The FBI began investigating the reported assault of Vauhxx Booker, a civil rights activist and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, who was cowardly beaten and racially insulted at Monroe Lake near Bloomington over the Fourth of July weekend.
Much of the assault was captured on cellphone video by Booker’s acquaintances and Booker’s attorney, Katherine Liell, said the FBI was questioning witnesses and that charging decisions could be made soon.
“We want this investigated as a hate crime. It was clearly racially motivated,” Liell said. “We will continue our quest every day until some justice is served.”
Liell also complained that law enforcement officers from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources “did not move rapidly enough” in response to reports of the attack.
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton said at the news conference that police continue to search for two people accused of knocking a woman unconscious and dragging a man with their car at a protest over the assault on Booker. The woman suffered a cut to her head, while the man scraped his arm. She was transported by ambulance to a hospital but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Pedigo said.
Authorities have not released the identities of the injured nor said if they were participating in the protest.
The protesters had gathered in Bloomington, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis, to demand arrests in the assault on Booker.
