The FBI is investigating a hate-crime report lodged by a Black civil rights activist in Indiana who said he was assaulted by several white men threatening to lynch him before a group of bystanders and friends intervened to stop the attack.
This report produced by Yahaira Jacquez.
36-year-old Vauhxx Booker - a black civil rights activist - says he was attacked by several white men - who pinned him against a tree.
He says one of them yelled, “get a noose.” Part of the encounter was caught on video.
The recording ends when a shirtless man confront the man filming and slaps the phone in his hand.
It happened over the July 4 holiday weekend at Lake Monroe, near Bloomington, Indiana.
The Justice Department and FBI told Reuters they’ve opened a federal probe into what’s been described as an attempted lynching.
The viral video sparked two nights of protests in Bloomington this week.
"No justice, no peace!" Booker - who is a member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission - said it was a racist attack.
"I think it's undeniable when a group of white men feel like they can call for a noose, call me nappy-headed, scream out white power, and attempt to lynch a man in broad daylight." The video appeared to show Booker on all fours being held down as witnesses shout for his release.
The attackers finally let Booker go, and he and his friends retreated to call 911.
Officers from Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources responded to the incident, and have been criticized for not making arrests at the time.
The video gaining national attention out of Monroe County, Indiana is now the subject of an FBI Hate Crime investigation.