Incident Summary:
07/04/2020: Assailants assaulted Vauhxx Booker at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Booker, an African-American activist, was on his way to a Lunar Eclipse viewing party at the lake when he had a confrontation with the assailants, who were claiming that the victims were trespassing on private property. During the confrontation, several men grabbed Booker and pinned him against a tree and began assaulting him and threatening to break his arm. One assailant even asked another person to grab a noose. Booker was eventually freed from the assailants by his companions. In the video the assailants can be seen attacking the victim and can be heard screaming several racial slurs and denigrating the victims. Sean Purdy and Jerry Cox were arrested and charged in connection with the attack.
Overview
GTD ID:
202007040027
When:
2020-07-04
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Indiana
City:
Bloomington
Location Details:
The incident occurred at Lake Monroe.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Barricade Incident) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Not Applicable |
Specific Description |
African American Civilian: Vauhxx Booker |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
1 |
US Hostages |
1 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Melee |
Hands, Feet, Fists |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
Yes |
Alternate Designation () |
Lack of Intentionality |
Additional Information |
There is doubt that this incident meets terrorism-related criteria. Sources noted the assailants were intoxicated at the time of the attack, and it was unclear whether the attack was spontaneous. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
White supremacists/nationalists |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
2 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 1 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
1 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
1 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"2 men charged in assault on Black man at Indiana lake," Associated Press Newswires, July 17, 2020. |
"FBI investigating alleged racist attack in Indiana, lawyer says," CNN Wire, July 8, 2020. |
"'They didn't even see me as human': Black activist recounts how a group of white men attacked him and allegedly threatened to 'get a noose' at a lake in Indiana as FBI launches investigation," Mail Online, July 8, 2020. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties