In his Facebook post, Booker recounted that he and some friends were headed to the lake to watch the eclipse when they were accosted by a “large, white male (seemingly drunk)” wearing a Confederate flag-printed hat. The man followed them on an ATV, saying that they were on private property. Booker said that they apologized, though they had the property owner’s permission to be there, and crossed over to the lake.
Shaken, Booker wrote that they told the rest of the group coming to watch the eclipse to come by way of the public beach to avoid the man. But there, the man’s friends had blocked off the public land with their boats and ATVS, claiming it as their own property. Booker said that one of them yelled “white power” when the rest of the group tried to cross.
Booker said that they attempted to engage the group in conversation — but their attempts were futile. When Booker and his friends decided to leave, the group funneled them onto a trail, blocking off the beach path. Then, Booker said, he was attacked.
“The five were able to easily overwhelm me and got me to the ground and dragged me pinning my body against a tree as they began pounding on my head and ripped off some of my hair, with several of them still on top of my body holding me down,” he wrote.
He said that they got “more enraged” as the beating progressed, and at one point he felt a man jump on his neck. He recalled one of the men’s daughters screaming for her father to let Booker go, which attracted more people to the scene.
“The attackers told the growing group, ‘we’re going to break his arms’ (while literally attempting to bend my arms behind me) and then stated to the members of their party several times to, ‘get a noose’, amongst some other choice slurs,” Booker wrote. “With me still pinned underneath them they kept telling onlookers to leave the ‘boy’ and that everyone else (all white) could go.”
At that point, some of the onlookers started filming the scene with their phones.
In one of the videos, which Booker said shows the alleged attack, the group is still huddled around a tree holding Booker, who is slumped on the ground. The nearby woman, wearing a bathing suit and sandals and holding a beer can, can be heard imploring the group to let Booker go. Many of the bystanders echo her call.
At one point, one of the men with his hands on Booker turns and says “you go!” jabbing a finger at one of the bystanders. A woman next to him, wearing a towel over a bathing suit, adds “You go and we’ll let him go.”
The other videos show the aftermath of the scene, after Booker was released. Those who allegedly assaulted him followed the group of witnesses, telling them to get off the “private property.”
One of the men, shirtless and wearing swim trunks, repeatedly calls the group “liberal ****s” and claims that they “invaded us.” He also called one, a Black man, “a nappy-headed ***** with your five white friends.”
“Big Black was what started all of this,” the same man said, with two of his friends sometimes restraining him.
