Talk:J. D. Ford

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

This page is about a politician who is running for office or has recently run for office, is in office and campaigning for re-election, or is involved in some current political conflict or controversy. For that reason, this article is at increased risk of biased editing, talk-page trolling, and simple vandalism.

Biography: Politics and Government

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as Low-importance).

Indiana

J. D. Ford is within the scope of WikiProject Indiana, an open collaborative effort to coordinate work for, and sustain comprehensive coverage of the U.S. state of Indiana and related subjects on Wikipedia.

IndianaWikipedia:WikiProject IndianaTemplate:WikiProject IndianaIndiana articles

???

This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Things you can do:
WikiProject Indiana alerts Requested Reassessments Indiana articles needing assessed Indiana cleanup listing Articles needing infoboxes Articles needing attention To-do Lists Articles needing images

LGBTQ+ studies

This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBTQ+ studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBTQ-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBTQ+ studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesLGBTQ+ studies articles

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

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.