Talk:J. D. Ford

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Support for Vauhxx Booker, activist who claimed he was victim of "attempted lynching"[edit]

I think there should be a section on Senator Ford's support for a black man who said he was the victim of an attempted lynching on July 4, 2020 at Lake Monroe, Indiana.

The Vauhxx Booker incident made national news, with Booker giving interviews alleging he was almost hanged. After substantial public pressure, the local prosecutor charged the men Booker accused, but not Booker, with assault.

Before those men were charged, indeed, before the police report was comlete, let alone released, several local elected officials, Mayor Hamilton of Bloomington, Senate candidate Shelli Yoder, and Senator Ford, appeared at a press conference with BOoker, to endorse his accusations and demands for prosecution Senator Ford referred to Booker as "my friend" and said he was seeking justice for Booker.

I believe this is noteworthy for several reasons which I wish to discuss with anyone who feels differently:

1. You have an elected official taking one side in an incident which really was not clear cut. 2. You have an elected official, not just endorsing a cause or general value - Black Lives Matter or whatever might apply - but endorsing the criminal prosecution of individuals- this has historically been a relatively rare event - and, in the context of Indiana law, which does not allow the prosecutor to condemn defendants in the media - to me goes way over an ethical line. Senator Ford did not even wait for the police report before demanding the men Booker accused by prosecuted. 3. The prosecution of the men seems to have been solely in response to political pressure, rather than based on the fact. 4. Since the original prosecutor charged the men Senator Ford wanted charged, then recused herself without any clear explanation, Booker himself has been charged with assault. 5. Since Booker got charged with assault for attacking the men at Lake Monroe, he has also been charged for assault on a police officer in Indianapolis.

I think Vauhxx Booker has been badly discredited since the press conference Senator Ford gave endorsing him, and Ford recognizes this - and note, Ford's recent Twitter account does not seem to have any tweets endorsing Booker, despite Booker's rally saying there was no basis for the charges against him and he would fight them - so, it looks like Ford recognizes his mistake in supporting Booker without all the facts, and that alone makes it newsworthy.