Three Alabama men are facing misdemeanor assault charges after a group of white men attacked a Black dock worker on Saturday during a brawl involving multiple people along the Montgomery Riverfront.
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert announced assault charges for Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23; and Zachery Shipman, 25; at a Tuesday news conference. Albert said one of the men is in custody and the two others are expected to turn themselves over to police Tuesday afternoon.
Police are expected to bring more charges in the brawl, Albert said.
“There was no need for this event to take the path it did,” Albert told reporters. He said investigators do not believe the incident was racially motivated. “The people of Montgomery, we’re better than that. We’re a fun city and we don’t want this type of activity to shed a dark eye on what this city’s all about.”
Aug. 7, 202301:13
Albert said police are also looking to speak with Reggie Gray, 42, a Black man shown in social media videos wielding a folding chair in the brawl.
Albert confirmed witness accounts of the incident: that a group of white private boaters attacked a Black dock worker, Damien Pickett, as he attempted to move their pontoon to make way for the Harriott II Riverboat. The more than 200 passengers on the riverboat waited for at least 30 minutes as its captain and Pickett tried to get the group of rowdy boaters to move their watercraft. Several members of the private pontoon then attacked Pickett, Albert said.
“They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened,” a witness, Leslie Mawhorter, 52, who was aboard the Harriott II, previously told NBC News. “I knew something was going to go down, because their attitude was just, ‘You can’t tell us what to do.’ They were going to be confrontational regardless of who you were.”
The riverboat captain called police around 7 p.m. local time and officers arrived at the scene at 7:18 p.m., Albert said. Thirteen people were detained, questioned, then released, the police chief said, adding that the local FBI and District Attorney’s offices are involved in the ongoing investigation.
The family of a 16-year-old white dock worker is also calling for charges after he was attacked by the white boaters while operating a nearby vessel. Several videos of the fight began circulating the Internet in the wake of the incident. Social media users shared memes and pointed out that the combatants were split along racial lines. Many praised the group of Black men for coming to Pickett’s defense against the white boaters.
“I don’t think you can judge any community by any one incident. I think it’s important for us to address this as an isolated incident, one that was avoidable. One that was brought on by individuals who chose the wrong path of action.”
A spokesperson for the city Parks & Recreation, which oversees the riverboat attractions, declined to comment on the matter. The Montgomery Riverfront is a popular summertime destination with a riverboat, a park, an amphitheater, a stadium and more.
This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
