Black Alabama boat captain, in middle of wild brawl caught in viral video, now accused of assault

Witnesses say a large brawl that broke out on an Alabama riverfront was fueled by alcohol and adrenaline.

The Black boat captain who was attacked by white boaters in a wild dockside brawl captured  in viral video  was accused of assault in connection with the Alabama melee, officials said Thursday.

Dameion Pickett, whom police have identified as co-captain of the Harriott II riverboat, was summoned to appear before a magistrate on Nov. 21 on allegations of assault in the third degree, a Montgomery court clerk said.

Video showed Pickett appearing to argue with boaters after asking them to make way for his craft on Aug. 5.

A shirtless white man is then seen forcefully shoving Pickett in the chest before taking a swing at the captain's face, touching off the wild melee. Several other shirtless white men surrounded Pickett and joined the fracas.

Pickett’s family said they've been told that the charge stems from allegations that the captain punched another man, Zachary Shipman.

Shipman has claimed he “had nothing to do with” the brawl and was trying to stop one of his friends from fighting, according to the captain’s sister, Nicole Pickett.

In Alabama, a person can make a misdemeanor complaint and have a magistrate issue a summons for an accused person to answer, a police spokesman said.

"Neither the City nor the Montgomery Police Department filed these charges," said the joint statement from the mayor and the police chief. "The Montgomery Police Department’s investigation only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim."

Shipman, though, is being charged with assault in the third degree , according to a court clerk.

Shipman could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

But even if Shipman were an innocent bystander or a peacekeeper, Pickett’s family insists, it would be unreasonable to think their loved one should have paused under the circumstances to consider who was around him before defending himself.

“At that time, you got a bunch of angry a-- guys beating up on you in the head, you don't know who hit you,” sister Nicole Pickett said. “You just swing (in self-defense).”

riverboat captain charged with assault

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Men attacked Alabama boat co-captain for ‘just doing my job,’ he says

Police in Montgomery, Alabama, said three people are expected to be in custody Tuesday on charges including misdemeanor assault in connection with a riverfront brawl that drew nationwide attention. (Aug. 8)

The Harriott II riverboat sits docked in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. A riverfront brawl occurred on Aug. 5 when a crew member was punched for trying to move a pontoon boat that was blocking the riverboat from docking. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

The Harriott II riverboat sits docked in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. A riverfront brawl occurred on Aug. 5 when a crew member was punched for trying to move a pontoon boat that was blocking the riverboat from docking. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

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Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, left, listens as Police Chief Darryl Albert speaks a news conference at City Hall in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, to discuss a riverfront brawl. Video circulating on social media showed a large melee Saturday, Aug. 5, that appeared to begin when a crew member of a city-operated riverboat tried to get a pontoon boat moved that was blocking the riverboat from docking.(Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed speaks a news conference at City Hall in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday August 8, 2023, to discuss a riverfront brawl. Listening at right is Police Chief Darryl Albert. Video circulating on social media showed a large melee Saturday, Aug. 5, that appeared to begin when a crew member of a city-operated riverboat tried to get a pontoon boat moved that was blocking the riverboat from docking.(Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama boat co-captain was hanging on “for dear life” as men punched and tackled him on the capital city’s riverfront, he told police after video of the brawl circulated widely online.

Dameion Pickett, a crew member of the Harriott II in Montgomery, described the brawl in a handwritten statement to authorities included in court documents, saying he was attacked after moving a pontoon boat a few feet so the city-owned riverboat could dock.

Four white boaters have been charged with misdemeanor assault in the attack against Pickett, who is Black, as well as a teen deckhand, who was punched and is white. The deckhand’s mother heard a racial slur before Pickett was hit, she wrote in a statement.

A fifth person, a Black man who appeared to be hitting people with a folding chair during the subsequent fight, has been charged with disorderly conduct, police announced Friday.

Video of the melee sparked scores of memes and video reenactments.

Pickett told police that the captain had asked a group on a pontoon boat “at least five or six times” to move from the riverboat’s designated docking space but they responded by “giving us the finger and packing up to leave.” Pickett and another deckhand eventually took a vessel to shore and moved the pontoon boat “three steps to the right,” he wrote.

"Black Renaissance," by Rayvenn D'Clark, bronze, 2023, during a media tour of Equal Justice Initiative's new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

He said two people ran rushing back, including one cursing and threatening to beat him for touching the boat. Pickett wrote that one of the men shouted that it was public dock space, but Pickett told them it was the city’s designated space for the riverboat. He said he told them he was “just doing my job.” Pickett said he was punched in the face and hit from behind. Pickett said.

“I went to the ground. I think I bit one of them. All I can hear Imma kill you” and beat you, he wrote. He couldn’t tell “how long it lasted” and “grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life,” Pickett wrote.

After the fight was over Pickett said he apologized to the riverboat customers for the inconvenience as he helped them get off the boat.

The deckhand had gone with Pickett to move the pontoon boat. His mother, who was also on the Harriott, said in a statement to police that her son tried to pull the men off Pickett and was punched in the chest.

Darron Hendley, an attorney listed in court records for two of the people charged, declined to comment. It was not immediately clear if the others had an attorney to speak on their behalf.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said Friday that the investigation is ongoing.

Police said they consulted with the FBI and determined what happened on the riverfront did not qualify as a hate crime. Reed, the city’s first Black mayor, said he will trust the investigative process, but said his “perspective as a Black man in Montgomery differs from my perspective as mayor.”

“From what we’ve seen from the history of our city — a place tied to both the pain and the progress of this nation – it seems to meet the moral definition of a crime fueled by hate, and this kind of violence cannot go unchecked,” Reed said. “It is a threat to the durability of our democracy, and we are grateful to our law enforcement professionals, partner organizations and the greater community for helping us ensure justice will prevail.”

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Four Charged With Assault After Alabama Riverfront Brawl

Three men and a woman turned themselves in to the Montgomery police this week after an attack on a Black boat captain that garnered heavy backlash on social media.

A large white and red riverboat is next to a rainy dock behind a sign that reads: “No watercraft parking between signs. Reserved Harriott II.”

By Remy Tumin

Four people have turned themselves in to the police and have been charged with assault in connection with a brawl that broke out along the waterfront in Montgomery, Ala., last weekend, officials said, as the investigation into the racially charged melee continues .

The arrests came days after a group of white boaters attacked a Black riverboat cruise captain on Saturday. Warrants for three of the boaters were issued on Tuesday, and the Montgomery police had asked them during a news conference to come forward.

Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, were in custody of the Montgomery police as of Wednesday, the police said, and each was charged with one count of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. A third man, Richard Roberts, 48, turned himself in on Tuesday and was charged with two counts of third-degree assault. All three have posted bail, officials said.

riverboat captain charged with assault

On Thursday, Mary Todd, 21, turned herself in and was also charged with third degree assault, the police said. She was being held for 12 hours, according to court records.

The misdemeanor assault is penalized by a fine of up to $6,000 and up to one year in jail. The four accused, all of whom are white, are scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 1.

The Montgomery police said on Thursday that no other charges had been levied, but more could come. While the fight appeared to be largely down racial lines, the police would not pursue hate crime charges, they said. They also will not pursue charges of inciting a riot.

The weekend’s violent scene was captured on video by several bystanders and drew a large social media response, including cartoons , TikTok videos , a song and re-enactments . Many of the videos, which offer multiple angles and vantage points of the incident, are now a part of the police investigation, said Chief Darryl J. Albert of the Montgomery Police.

The altercation began at the city’s popular Riverfront Park after a pontoon boat docked in a space designated for the Harriott II, a riverboat cruise that was returning from a trip up the Alabama River. For 45 minutes, the captain of the Harriott II instructed the pontoon boat via the public announcement system to move out of the way, but to no avail. Instead, the white boaters responded with “gestures, curse words and taunting,” Chief Albert said at a news conference on Tuesday.

At that point, Dameion Pickett, a co-captain of the Harriott, was given a ride on a small boat to the dock so he could talk to the pontoon owners. When Mr. Pickett, who is Black, tried to move the pontoon, the owners of the boat confronted and attacked him. Members of the Harriott’s crew and bystanders came to Mr. Pickett’s defense, and a melee broke out. One man was seen on video wielding a folding chair to use against the boaters.

Mr. Pickett and an unnamed 16-year-old male, who had taken Mr. Pickett to the dock, were injured in the brawl.

The dock’s history has become a part of the broader conversation around the fight and its racial overtones: The altercation occurred at the same dock where enslaved Africans arrived by steamboat to be sold in the center of town.

An earlier version of this article, relying on information provided by the Montgomery Police Department, misspelled the given names of two people. The boat co-captain is Dameion Pickett, not Damien; and a person charged is Zachery Shipman, not Zachary.

How we handle corrections

Remy Tumin is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news and other topics. More about Remy Tumin

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Montgomery riverboat co-captain charged with assault months after brawl

  • Published: Nov. 08, 2023, 7:25 p.m.

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Screengrab from Montgomery riverfront brawl.

The co-captain of the Montgomery riverboat involved in the August brawl between the vessel’s Black crew members and passengers and white occupants of a pontoon boat has been charged with third-degree assault, according to court records.

The charges against Harriott II co-captain Dameion Pickett, who has previously been identified in court records as Damien Pickett, were filed in Montgomery Municipal Court on Oct. 26.

Neither Montgomery police nor the Montgomery city attorney publicly announced the charges.

Pickett is charged with third-degree assault and is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 21, according to municipal court records.

The complainant in Pickett’s case was listed as Zachery “Chase” Shipman, who was on the pontoon boat and also faces a third-degree assault charge in connection with the brawl.

Pickett is listed as a victim in the charges against the pontoon boat occupants.

The viral Aug. 5 fight started at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park when crew members of the Harriott II were unable to dock the cruise boat because the pontoon boat from Selma was in the way.

The large fight captured on viral videos showed Pickett, who is Black, attacked by a group of white people as other Black people rushed to his defense.

Crystal Warren, the mother of a 16-year-old deckhand involved in the melee, claimed in a police report that racial slurs were used against Pickett during the brawl.

“You could here (sic) men yelling ‘f--k that n----r’ and the men came down to fight my son,” she wrote in her report. But in court in October, Warren testified that she did not hear a racial slur.

Pickett was in the courtroom late last month, when pontoon boat occupant Richard Roberts, 48, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and apologized to Pickett for his actions that day.

“I think under different circumstances we could be friends,” Roberts told Pickett. “You might not think so.”

“I know you were doing your job,” Roberts added.

Roberts received a four-month suspended sentence. Of that, he will serve 32 days in jail in Perry County, with that time to be served on weekends. The sentence also calls for 100 hours of community service and court costs

A third pontoon boat occupant, Mary Todd, pleaded guilty to harassment late last month. She received a 15-day suspended sentence and was ordered to complete an anger management program and pay court costs.

Another defendant in the incident, Reggie Ray, who is Black and was seen wielding a folding chair in the melee , was charged with disorderly conduct.

All of the defendants who have been arraigned have pleaded not guilty.

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Montgomery riverfront brawl: Black co-captain faces assault charge

riverboat captain charged with assault

The Black co-captain of the Harriott II has been charged with third-degree assault in the riverfront brawl in Montgomery municipal court.

Dameion Pickett will go to court at 10 a.m. Nov. 21. The complainant in the case is Zachery Shipman, who is also facing an assault charge.

The brawl happened Aug. 5, and Pickett was charged Oct. 26. Officials did not publicly announce the charges as they did with others charged after the brawl.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert released the following statement Thursday afternoon:

“The City of Montgomery and Montgomery Police Department have been made aware that one of the individuals involved in the incident at Montgomery Riverfront Park on August 5, 2023, has filed charges against (Harriott) II co-captain Dameion Pickett. Neither the City nor the Montgomery Police Department filed these charges. The Montgomery Police Department’s investigation only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim.”

More: Montgomery riverfront brawl: Folding chair shows up in tourist photos, at voter drives

The incident started when Pickett asked the operators of a private boat that was docked in its space to move. Dozens of cellphone videos showing Pickett being punched and kicked by several white assailants were recorded by passengers aboard the Harriott II riverboat – which was waiting to dock with 227 people on board for more than 40 minutes – as well as people on the shore.

Richard Roberts and Mary Todd of Selma both  pleaded guilty to charges  related to the brawl in Montgomery municipal court. Cases are pending for three others including Shipman, Allen Todd and Reggie Ray, who is accused of hitting a woman with a folding chair.

This story was updated at 4:48 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, to clarify that while Pickett is charged in municipal court, the city itself did not file the charges.

Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @gladlyalex.

White men charged with attacking Black man in Montgomery Riverfront brawl

Three White men were charged with assault after they attacked a Black riverboat co-captain at the city’s Riverfront Park over the weekend and ignited a brawl largely along racial lines, authorities in Montgomery, Ala., said.

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert told reporters Tuesday that the three men aboard a private pontoon boat — Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23; and Zachery Shipman, 25 — have four warrants pending in the attack on Damien Pickett, a co-captain of the Harriott II Riverboat, which was blocked from docking by the pontoon boat. Roberts has two warrants pending, while Todd and Shipman each have one pending warrant.

“The co-captain, as he approached the dock and attempted to peacefully move the boat over, the owners of the boat confronted him in a hostile way,” Albert said.

Authorities said that they had consulted with the FBI and do not have the evidence to charge the men with a hate crime or with inciting a riot. Albert told reporters Tuesday that authorities may bring additional charges if more evidence becomes available.

The Rev. Rayford Mack, president of the Metro Montgomery NAACP branch, said he is not rushing to any conclusions but hopes to have more information soon.

“We’re waiting to see where the investigation leads,” he said. “In this day and time, the question always arises: If that co-captain of the boat had been White, would they have jumped on him then?”

Albert said one of the men has turned himself in to police, while the other two would appear soon. Police have also called on Reggie Gray, a 42-year-old Black man who was seen on video hitting people with a folding chair during the brawl, to turn himself in. Neither Gray nor the three White men charged immediately responded to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Police detained 13 people for questioning, then released them, Albert said.

Videos taken by onlookers and spread around the internet showed the Black co-captain, Pickett, arguing with one of the pontoon boaters as a second White man charges at Pickett and hits him in the face. Pickett then tosses his cap into the air before the two hit each other. Almost immediately, Pickett is swarmed by several White men on the dock who throw punches while the Black man is on the ground, according to the videos posted online.

White and Black people on the dock and shore appear to jump in to try to help Pickett. Also in the video, someone appears to jump off the riverboat and swim to the dock to help the co-captain.

“Get up there, young buck!” someone can be heard shouting from the riverboat in the video. That person, only identified as a 16-year-old named Aaren, said he only did what he “was taught to do,” his family’s publicist, Makina Lashea, said in a statement posted to Facebook.

After the initial tussle calmed down, videos appeared to show a group of Black men confronting the White boaters. That fighting lasted more than a minute, with one of the Black men — allegedly Gray — recorded hitting a White woman in the head with a folding chair and then being surrounded by police. One person appeared to have gotten punched off the dock into the water.

The Montgomery Police Department responded to a call of a reported disturbance about 7 p.m. Saturday and found “a large group of subjects engaged in a physical altercation,” Maj. Saba Coleman of the Montgomery police said Monday.

Albert said Pickett may have been the only one to receive treatment at a hospital.

Everyone should learn conflict resolution, Albert said, to avoid such brawls.

“We talk about conflict resolution and de-escalation all the time,” Albert told reporters. “It’s not only for kids. It’s not only for teenagers and juveniles. Everyone must be aware of conflict resolution or de-escalation. There was no need for this event to take the path it did.”

Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed (D) in a statement Sunday called the fight “an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred.” He said police detained “several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job.”

Reed, the city’s first Black mayor, is in the midst of a reelection campaign. He won in 2019 with roughly two-thirds of the vote in a city remembered as both the birthplace of the civil rights movement and the cradle of the confederacy. He said Sunday that “those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system.”

The incident occurred at the Riverfront Park on the banks of the Alabama River. The park features the Harriott II, which offers dinner, dancing and live entertainment, according to the city’s website . The park also has an amphitheater, a stadium and a Union Station Train Shed, which has been a National Historic Landmark since 1976.

Montgomery, where Black people make up over 60 percent of the city’s population, according to U.S. census data, has historically had high-profile racial tensions.

It was a hub for trading enslaved people before becoming a major focus in the civil rights era. Montgomery was key in the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 speech at the end of his historic Alabama march: “From Montgomery to Birmingham, from Birmingham to Selma, from Selma back to Montgomery, the trail wound in a circle, long and often bloody, yet it has become a highway up from darkness,” King said. The city was also the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a White man.

Reed and the NAACP’s Mack emphasized that what unfolded Saturday was an isolated incident that does not represent Montgomery.

“This is not indicative of who we are,” the mayor said.

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  • Racial tensions linger in Montgomery after dock brawl August 12, 2023 Racial tensions linger in Montgomery after dock brawl August 12, 2023

riverboat captain charged with assault

Man Accuses Riverboat Co-Captain of Assault During Alabama Riverfront Brawl

A Black riverboat co-captain at the center of an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention has been accused of misdemeanor assault in the melee by one of the white boaters in the fight

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Black riverboat co-captain at the center of an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention has been accused of misdemeanor assault in the melee by one of the white boaters charged in the fight.

Court records show one of the white men accused of assaulting the co-captain during the August brawl filed a complaint last month saying the co-captain hit him first during the chaotic melee. The man's complaint charges the co-captain with misdemeanor assault, according to court records.

“I was not trying to fight,” the man wrote in a statement. The complaint was filed Oct. 26 ahead of the man's Nov. 16 trial on a misdemeanor assault charge of hitting and kicking the riverboat co-captain.

Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed and police Chief Darryl J. Albert issued a statement Thursday reiterating that the city and police department did not file the charges against the co-captain and that the police investigation considers him to be a victim.

The August riverfront melee in Montgomery drew national attention after bystanders filmed white boaters hitting a Black riverboat co-captain and others rushing to his defense. Video of the fight was shared widely online, sparking countless memes and parodies.

Montgomery police said the brawl began when the white boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so the city-owned Harriott II riverboat could dock in its designated space. The boat’s co-captain said he was attacked after moving the pontoon boat a few feet to make way for the riverboat.

Photos You Should See

A Maka Indigenous woman puts on make-up before protesting for the recovery of ancestral lands in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Leader Mateo Martinez has denounced that the Paraguayan state has built a bridge on their land in El Chaco's Bartolome de las Casas, Presidente Hayes department. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Five other people were previously charged in the brawl. Two white boaters previously pleaded guilty to charges of misdemeanor assault or harassment. Three other people, including a Black man who was filmed swinging a folding chair, have upcoming court dates.

Copyright 2023 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Co-Captain Charged With Assault Months After Viral Montgomery Riverboat Beatdown

Law officials have been quiet surrounding pending assault charges against the Riverboat co-captain involved in the viral Montgomery riverboat brawl in August.

Court records show Harriott II co-captain, identified as Dameion Pickett, is being charged with third-degree assault , AL reports . While the charges were filed in Montgomery Municipal Court on Oct. 26., neither Montgomery police nor the city attorney have yet to announce the charges publicly. Zachery “Chase” Shipman, the complainant listed in Pickett’s case, is also facing a third-degree assault charge in connection with the brawl as Shipman was on the pontoon boat. Pickett is listed as a victim in the charges against the pontoon boat occupants.

The brawl took Black Twitter by storm on Aug. 5, 2023 . Video footage shows the fight starting at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park when Harriott II crew members could not dock the cruise boat due to the pontoon boat being in the way. Pickett, who is Black, can be seen being attacked by the group of white passengers as other Black people who witnessed the attack come to his defense , including a 16-year-old deckhand. His mother, Crystal Warren, stated in a police report that Pickett was called racial slurs during the fight but later changed her story in court.

In a late October 2023 court appearance, pontoon boat occupant Richard Roberts pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and apologized to Pickett for his behavior. He even said that he believes they would have been friends.

“I think under different circumstances, we could be friends. You might not think so,” Roberts said. “I know you were doing your job.”

According to WFSA 12 , Shipman claims he wasn’t trying to fight Pickett and was defending himself. He suffered a bruised cheekbone after Pickett allegedly punched him in the face. Two of the five defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the fight.

Roberts was given a four-month suspended sentence where he will serve 32 days on weekends in jail in Perry County. His sentence also calls for 100 hours of community service and court costs.

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Three men charged with assault in viral waterfront brawl in Alabama

Associated Press | AP

August 9th, 2023

riverboat captain charged with assault

Three white boaters in Alabama’s capital city will be charged with misdemeanor assault for a riverfront brawl with a Black boat captain that drew nationwide attention, with more charges likely to come, police said.

Videos of the incident, which circulated widely on social media, have proven crucial in investigating what happened, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert said. One person has turned himself in and the other two have agreed to turn themselves in by the end of the day Tuesday.

“The investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely,” Albert said.

The fight was largely split along racial lines and began when a moored pontoon boat blocked the Harriott II riverboat from docking in its designated space along the city’s riverfront, Albert said. The Harriott II had 227 passengers aboard for a tour.

The viral video of white boaters assaulting a Black riverboat captain and the following melee brought unwelcome attention to the historic city — which is known across the country for the Montgomery bus boycott in the 1950s and voting rights marches in the 1960s. The city in recent decades has tried to move beyond its reputation as a site of racial tension and to build a tourism trade instead based on its critical role in the Civil Rights Movement.

“I don’t think you can judge any community by any one incident. This is not indicative of who we are,” Mayor Steven Reed said Tuesday. He noted that the people on the pontoon boat were not from Montgomery. “It’s important for us to address this as an isolated incident, one that was avoidable and one that was brought on by individuals who chose the wrong path of action,” Reed said.

Before the fight began, the riverboat captain tried to contact the pontoon boat owner by loudspeaker. People on the other boat responded with “obscene gestures, curse words and taunting,” the police chief said.

The riverboat co-captain took another vessel to shore to attempt to move the pontoon boat and “was attacked by several members of the private boat.” Albert said several people from the riverboat came to the co-captain’s defense, “engaging in what we all have seen since on social media.”

Video captured by bystanders showed that once the Harriott II docked, several people from the riverboat rushed to confront the people on the pontoon boat and more fighting broke out. The video showed people being shoved, punched and kicked, and one man hitting someone with a chair. At least one person was knocked into the water.

“The co-captain was doing his job. He was simply trying to move the boat just enough so the cruise ship could park safely, but it quickly escalated,” Albert said.

The police chief said so far the charges are against people from the pontoon boat who assaulted the co-captain and a 16-year-old who got involved. Police are trying to locate and question the man with the chair.

The fight took place along Montgomery’s downtown riverfront in an area where slaveowners once unloaded people from steamboats to be sold at auction.

Now, the city has developed the area into a tourist and recreation place with restaurants, bars and hotels. The Harriott II take tourists on sightseeing trips with food and entertainment, along the Alabama River.

The brawl sparked dozens of internet memes and videos with some joking that the chair should be placed in a local museum.

Albert said while some made racial taunts, the police department does not believe the motivation behind the fight rises to the standard of a hate crime. Alcohol is believed to be an escalating factor, he said.

Christa Owen of Clanton was aboard the riverboat with her husband and their daughter for a dinner cruise to celebrate the daughter’s 12th birthday. She said the riverboat captain said on loudspeaker: “Black pontoon boat, move your boat,” and that passengers also yelled for the boat to move so they could dock.

“They shrugged their shoulders,” Owen said. She said the crew member, identified by police as the co-captain of the riverboat, got off to move the pontoon boat a few feet. Owen said the tension was obvious and mounting before punches were thrown. She said passengers felt helpless as they watched the co-captain get pummeled by several people on shore.

Owen, a stay-at-home mom, filmed the confrontation as it began on the dock. She said as a “mother of many” she knows the importance of being able to document how a conflict started. Once the boat was able to dock, she said her family had to figure out how to get off the boat safely with the fighting going on around them.

“It didn’t have to escalate to that,” she said.

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The riverfront brawl in Alabama reignites national debate over race

Dustin Jones

riverboat captain charged with assault

The Harriott II riverboat sits at the Riverfront dock in Montgomery, Ala. Three white men have been charged with assault for attacking the ship's co-captain last Saturday, which turned into a brawl along racial lines, as seen in dozens of videos online. Kim Chandler/AP hide caption

The Harriott II riverboat sits at the Riverfront dock in Montgomery, Ala. Three white men have been charged with assault for attacking the ship's co-captain last Saturday, which turned into a brawl along racial lines, as seen in dozens of videos online.

Warning: This story contains profanity and a racial slur.

Police in Montgomery, Ala., say that they have not found evidence that last weekend's riverfront brawl — in which a large number of people squared off against each along racial lines — rises to the level of a hate crime.

However, a week later, people who have seen videos of the fight, including experts, pundits and social media users, remain divided: Some are saying race had nothing to do with the incident, while others say the footage clearly shows how groups divided by race.

What's certain is that the incident has reignited conversations about race across the U.S.

I've spent my career explaining race, but hit a wall with Montgomery brawl memes

I've spent my career explaining race, but hit a wall with Montgomery brawl memes

What montgomery officials are saying.

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that the brawl doesn't meet the criteria for hate crime charges under federal law. He said that he also understands why people are raising the issue of race.

"That's why this department went above and beyond and looked under every stone for answers," Albert said, adding that the charges that were brought accurately reflect the evidence available at the time. Investigations are ongoing.

Steven L. Reed, Montgomery's first Black mayor , has promised to hold the people responsible for fight accountable. He says he has two different perspectives on the incident, one as a public servant and one as Black man.

riverboat captain charged with assault

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed (seen here on Aug. 8 speaking to the press with Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert in the background) says the people responsible for the fight will be held accountable. Julie Bennett/Getty Images hide caption

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed (seen here on Aug. 8 speaking to the press with Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert in the background) says the people responsible for the fight will be held accountable.

"At this point in the investigation, the FBI has not classified these attacks as a hate crime. As a former judge and as an elected official, I understand that and will trust this process and the integrity of our justice system," Reed said in a statement to NPR on Thursday.

"However, my perspective as a Black man in Montgomery differs from my perspective as mayor. From what we've seen from the history of our city — a place tied to both the pain and the progress of this nation – it seems to meet the moral definition, and this kind of violence cannot go unchecked."

He also says that as more information becomes available, his office will work with the U.S. Justice Department to "thoroughly vet whether new evidence reclassifies the incident as a hate crime per FBI protocol."

How the brawl unfolded

Dozens of videos of the incident last Saturday began surfacing earlier this week, including one from Alabama political reporter Josh Moon, who shared a video of the fight on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It shows that the incident at Montgomery's Riverfront Park appears to have started after a group of people docked their pontoon boat in a space reserved for the city's riverboat, the Harriott II.

riverboat captain charged with assault

A screenshot from one of the videos of the brawl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday. The video shows a fight that broke out between a boat co-captain and several men who appeared to be parking their pontoon boat in a space reserved for the city's riverboat. @Josh_Moon/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

A screenshot from one of the videos of the brawl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday. The video shows a fight that broke out between a boat co-captain and several men who appeared to be parking their pontoon boat in a space reserved for the city's riverboat.

After 45 or so minutes of announcements over a loudspeaker asking for the pontoon boat to be moved, the Black co-captain of the Harriott II, named as Dameion Pickett in court documents, and a white 16-year-old deckhand, who NPR isn't naming because he's a minor, went ashore to move the craft so the riverboat could dock, said Albert, the police chief.

Pickett, 43, was confronted by several men from the pontoon boat, and heated conversation escalated to a fight. Video appears to show Richard Roberts, 48, striking Pickett first. Allen Todd and Zachery Shipman joined the fight, punching and kicking Pickett.

Another Harriott II crew member, Crystal Warren, witnessed the incident from aboard the riverboat. Her son is the 16-year-old deckhand, who was allegedly assaulted by people associated with the pontoon boat . She said in a sworn statement to police that she heard one of the men yell, "F*** that n*****" as Pickett was trying to move the vessel.

4 people are being charged with assault for the waterfront brawl in Montgomery

3 men are being charged with assault for the waterfront brawl in Montgomery

Warren also said that one of the men fighting Harriot II crew members was heard saying he was "getting his gun." She said a riverboat employee tackled the man as he appeared to try and get the weapon.

As of Friday, Roberts has been charged with two counts of 3rd degree assault, while Todd, 23 , and Shipman , 25, each face one count of 3rd degree assault. They are scheduled to be arraigned on these misdemeanor charges on Sept. 1. (A fourth person, Mary Todd, 21, has also been charged with one count of 3rd degree assault.)

NPR attempted to reach the defendants for comment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Why conversations about race are hard for officials

It's not surprising that authorities have been reluctant to discuss race, says Christina Ferraz , a public relations consultant who specializes in reaching communities of color.

Public officials can be risk-averse on the topic because of its general divisiveness in today's "culture wars," says Ferraz .

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"As this conflict may be identified as racially motivated, but not yet been charged as a hate crime, it can be considered slander and defamation of character for a public official to make a statement on the conflict without anyone being charged," Ferraz tells NPR. "Public officials can be sued and this can negatively impact their brand reputation with donors and constituents."

NPR reached out to the Montgomery Police Department for further comment, but did not receive a response.

One historian says the question of race is clear

Formal hate crime charges haven't been made, but observers like Derryn Moten , a professor of American history at Alabama State University, are blunt when describing Saturday's attack: "I completely reject the idea that race had no part or played no part in that incident."

To those who disagree, he says, "That's not what my eyes saw, that's not how my brain understood what I was looking at."

Moten, who also serves as chair of the university's Department of History and Political Science, says the fight took place in the area where enslaved people were brought in by boat on the Alabama River — and mere blocks from warehouses where they were held before being sold at auction.

Media outlets and pundits have been discussing these ties between Montgomery's racial history and the brawl. But Moten says what happened in Montgomery isn't exclusive to the South; it's a national problem.

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"The incident that happened in Montgomery is not unique to Montgomery," he says. "I don't want, or would not want, anybody to think, 'Oh, these are the types of things that just happen in the South.' No. Sadly, they can happen anywhere in the United States."

He says that race is a factor in many of the issues that currently divide the country, including critical race theory, what some politicians and conservative activists refer to as "cancel culture" and "wokeness," police use of deadly force, and how American history is taught.

When Republicans Attack 'Cancel Culture,' What Does It Mean?

When Republicans Attack 'Cancel Culture,' What Does It Mean?

"The time period that we're experiencing socially and politically in our country is really interesting in that there seems to be an effort among some, for lack of a better word, to sanitize American history, particularly American history as it relates to enslavement, as it relates to immigration, as it relates to the forced migration of Native people," Moten says. "And all of this done in an effort to paint the United States as exceptional. And I think any honest person who reads American history would find it impossible to accept that notion."

Despite the painful racial fault lines of the U.S. today, Moten says he remains optimistic that things will get better with time, and that "good ultimately will triumph."

"I'm a student of history, so I have a lot of evidence to back that up," he says, citing the reunification of Germany, the end of apartheid in South Africa and, closer to home, the success of the Montgomery bus boycott .

"I think one of the difficult things for a lot of people to accept is that we have to work constantly at making sure that equal protection means equal protection for all. That equal rights means equal rights for all. And that we can't rest on our laurels."

Correction Aug. 12, 2023

An earlier photo caption incorrectly referred to a dock worker instead of a boat co-captain.

riverboat captain charged with assault

Riverboat Co-Captain Charged in Viral Summer Alabama Riverfront Brawl

Dameion pickett faces charges of third-degree assault.

The co-captain of an Alabama riverboat has been charged in connection with the dockside brawl that drew national attention in August, according to a local media report.

Dameion Pickett , the co-captain of the Harriott II riverboat, was charged with third-degree assault, according to a report by CBS’ Selma affiliate WAKA . Pickett is the sixth person charged in the brawl, which was spurred after the riverboat attempted to dock along the Montgomery riverfront but was blocked by a private pontoon boat.

The charges were filed on Oct. 26 and were not publicly announced by the Montgomery police or Montgomery city attorney, according to AL.com .

Pickett, who is Black, took a smaller boat to the dock to move the pontoon boat on his own, but four white boaters attacked him, prompting others to defend Pickett and turning the initial disagreement into a melee. Some believed the incident was racially motivated .

Richard Roberts, 48; Zachery Shipman, 25; Allen Todd, 23; and Mary Todd, 21, were all charged with third-degree assault for allegedly attacking Pickett. Reggie Ray, 42, was also charged with disorderly conduct in the fight for allegedly hitting someone with a folding chair.

Shipman is listed as the complainant in the case against Pickett, according to WAKA.

Mary Todd reached a plea agreement with prosecutors last month, downgrading her charge to harassment. She will be required to pay $357 in court costs and complete anger management classes.

In addition, Roberts agreed to plead guilty to two counts of third-degree assault and received a suspended four-month jail sentence, which he will serve on the weekends, and 100 hours of community service.

Allen Todd, Shipman and Ray are all set to appear in court on Nov. 16. Pickett’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Nov. 21, according to WAKA.

A fight at the Montgomery Riverfront on Aug. 5 has led to charges for six people.

A man talking to a psychologist or therapist. A young african american guy looking sad while getting help during a therapy session with a counsellor

Dameion Pickett, Co-Captain Attacked 1st In Viral Montgomery Riverboat Brawl, Charged With Assault

The harriott ii riverboat’s co-captain was notably jumped by a group of white people before defending himself., share the post, share this link via, or copy link.

Montgomery Mayor Reed And City's Police Chief Albert Hold News Conference On Saturday's Brawl On Pier

The Harriott, a riverboat, remains docked on August 8, 2023, on the Alabama riverfront in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. | Source: Julie Bennett / Getty

I t’s been more than three months since the Riverfront Park brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, became a proud viral moment in contemporary Black history. Now, there’s a development that is bound to have Black people across America ready to swing folding chairs at any and everything: Dameion Pickett has been charged with a crime.

Pickett, the Harriott II riverboat’s co-captain who was jumped by a group of white people just before Black people rushed in to help, has been charged with third-degree assault because another defendant in the case, Zachary Shipman, is claiming Pickett struck him, not the other way around.

From WSFA 12 News :

Pickett, shown below in the black hat, previously said other defendants, including Zachary Shipman, attacked him, with Shipman hitting and kicking him. Shipman alleges in a new complaint that he was not trying to fight Pickett, but was defending himself and suffered a bruised cheekbone after Pickett allegedly punched him in the face. Shipman was previously charged with assaulting Pickett and is scheduled for trial later this month. He has pleaded not guilty. Pickett has not yet entered a plea.

First of all, even if (and it’s a huge “if”) it’s true that Shipman just happened to innocently find himself in the middle of the mele and got hit by the man who was defending himself while being jumped by several people —that’s a thing he should both figuratively and literally take on the chin given the circumstances. Pickett is widely understood to be the victim in the brawl. All Shipman is likely to do is make himself even less popular by pressing charges against Pickett just because he caught a little lump while the true victim was fighting for his life. And that’s only if you believe Shipman was just an innocent bystander trying to defend himself. (Again—huge “if.” Gynormous “if.” If “ifs” were measured in inches, this would be the Eiffel Tower of “ifs.”)

In fact, the idea of Pickett being charged with any crime connected to the brawl is so unpopular that the Montgomery Police Department is working harder than any police department has likely ever worked to ensure the public that it wasn’t law enforcement’s idea to criminally charge a Black man.

“The City of Montgomery and Montgomery Police Department have been made aware that one of the individuals involved in the incident at Montgomery Riverfront Park on August 5, 2023, has filed charges against Harriet II co-captain Dameion Pickett. Neither the City nor the Montgomery Police Department filed these charges. The Montgomery Police Department’s investigation only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim,” the city and the police department wrote in a joint statement. WSFA confirmed that “Pickett was not arrested or booked into any jail but was served with a summons on Oct. 26 to appear in court on Nov. 21.”

As previously reported , two out of the five (and now six) individuals charged with crimes related to the brawl pleaded guilty and have received their sentences. The other three, including Shipman, pleaded not guilty and had their cases continued.

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Harriott II riverboat

The Black riverboat co-captain who was accosted by white pontoon occupants in Montgomery, AL has been charged with third-degree assault. According to AL.com on Wednesday (Nov. 8), Dameion Pickett, previously listed as Damien Pickett, is set to be arraigned on Nov. 21. Inexplicably, this wasn’t announced by authorities when said charge was filed on Oct. 26.

According to Montgomery Municipal Court documents, the complainant in Pickett’s case is 25-year-old Zachary Shipman, one of four aggressors previously charged in a massive brawl that began when the Harriott II riverboat attempted to park in a designated area. As REVOLT previously reported, the white group was repeatedly asked to move their private boat before Pickett, 43, took action and moved it himself. He was then met with verbal and physical attacks. “‘Don’t touch that boat, motherf**ker, or we will beat your a**,’” the co-captain recounted in a written statement to police.

Bystanders, including 42-year-old Reggie Ray and a 16-year-old, identified by a family publicist as Aaren, jumped in to intervene. Ray, who was subsequently charged with disorderly conduct and was accused of utilizing a folding chair in the fracas, received roughly $300,000 in donations from supporters after the incident.

Shipman, along with 48-year-old Richard Roberts, 23-year-old Allen Todd, and 21-year-old Mary Todd, faced Judge Samarria Dunson in court back in October. Mary’s initial third-degree assault charge was downgraded to harassment following a plea agreement that included court costs and a requirement to complete anger management classes. Meanwhile, Roberts, who was hit with two assault charges, received a four-month suspended sentence, of which he’ll serve 32 days in a Perry County jail on the weekends. He’ll also pay court costs and had to commit to 100 hours of community service. Allen and Shipman, along with Ray, will return to court on Nov. 16.

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The Alabama riverboat captain who was attacked by unruly boaters is now facing an assault rap stemming from a complaint lodged by another man charged in the melee, according to reports.

Dameion Pickett was charged with third-degree assault on Oct. 26 more than two months after the WWE-style brawl on a dock, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

Montgomery officials stressed they didn’t bring the charge against Pickett and only considered him a victim in the case.

The complainant is Zachery Shipman, who is among numerous people charged in the case.

“The City of Montgomery and Montgomery Police Department have been made aware that one of the individuals involved in the incident at Montgomery Riverfront Park on August 5, 2023, has filed charges against (Harriott) II co-captain Dameion Pickett,” they said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

“Neither the City nor the Montgomery Police Department filed these charges. The Montgomery Police Department’s investigation only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim.”

A person can lodge a misdemeanor complaint and have a magistrate issue a summons that the accused person must answer in Alabama, a police spokesperson explained to NBC News.

Dameion Pickett, the co-captain of the Alabama Riverboat Harriott II, was charged with third-degree assault on Oct. 26 more than two months after the WWE-style brawl on a dock

Pickett is reportedly due in court on Nov. 21.

The altercation initially involved a group of white boaters that went after Pickett, who is black, and another white dock worker before it morphed into a large-scale throw down, according to footage from the scene.  

The fight was sparked when the boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so that the Harriott II Riverboat could dock, police previously said.

Pickett had told investigators that he didn’t believe race played a role in the incident.

The fight was sparked when the boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so that the Harriott II Riverboat could dock, police previously said.

Shipman, the man who accused Pickett of assault, has argued he “had nothing to do with” the fight and was preventing one of his buddies from getting involved, Pickett’s sister Nicole said, according to NBC News.

The assault charge comes from the allegation that Pickett punched Shipman, his family said.

The sibling believes even if Shipman, who was earlier this year charged with assault, was trying to keep the peace, it’s tough to expect Dameion Pickett to be aware of his surroundings in the moment.

“At that time, you got a bunch of angry a– guys beating up on you in the head, you don’t know who hit you,” Nicole Pickett reportedly said. “You just swing (in self-defense).”

Richard Roberts, 48, was ordered to serve 32 days in jail and Mary Todd, 21, was mandated to enroll in anger-management courses. 

Two participants in the boat-dock rumble pleaded guilty to misdemeanors last month.

Richard Roberts, 48, was ordered to serve 32 days in jail and Mary Todd, 21, was mandated to enroll in anger-management courses. 

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Dameion Pickett, the co-captain of the Alabama Riverboat Harriott II, was charged with third-degree assault on Oct. 26 more than two months after the WWE-style brawl on a dock

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  4. Montgomery riverboat co-captain charged with assault months after brawl

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  5. Montgomery riverboat captain charged with assault despite being attacked

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  6. Co-Captain Charged Months After Viral Alabama Riverboat Brawl

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  1. Riverboat co-captain charged with assault after Alabama riverfront

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  2. Men charged in Montgomery riverboat brawl caused 'trouble' before

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  6. Four Charged With Assault After Alabama Riverfront Brawl

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  7. What we know about the Montgomery Riverfront brawl

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    The co-captain of the Montgomery riverboat involved in the August brawl between the vessel's Black crew members and passengers and white occupants of a pontoon boat has been charged with third ...

  9. Montgomery riverfront brawl: Black co-captain faces assault charge

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  10. Montgomery Riverfront brawl: White men charged with attacking Black man

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  11. Montgomery Riverfront brawl: 4 suspects being charged with ...

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  14. Fourth person charged in connection with brawl at Montgomery riverfront

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  15. Three men charged with assault in viral waterfront brawl in Alabama

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  18. Riverboat Co-Captain Charged in Viral Summer Alabama Riverfront Brawl

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  19. Montgomery Riverboat Brawl Update: Dameion Pickett Charged

    Dameion Pickett, Co-Captain Attacked 1st In Viral Montgomery Riverboat Brawl, Charged With Assault The Harriott II riverboat's co-captain was notably jumped by a group of white people before ...

  20. Black Montgomery riverboat co-captain charged with assault

    The Black riverboat co-captain who was accosted by white pontoon occupants in Montgomery, AL has been charged with third-degree assault. According to AL.com on Wednesday (Nov. 8), Dameion Pickett, previously listed as Damien Pickett, is set to be arraigned on Nov. 21. Inexplicably, this wasn't announced by authorities when said charge was filed on Oct. 26.

  21. Montgomery riverboat captain charged with assault despite being attacked

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  22. Alabama riverboat captain, Dameion Pickett, charged with assault two

    The Alabama riverboat captain who was attacked by unruly boaters is now facing an assault rap stemming from a complaint lodged by another man charged in the melee, according to reports.. Dameion ...