Three white men face assault charges for attacking a black dock worker in southeastern Alabama during an incident that escalated into a brawl in which participants were divided into multiple lines based on race.
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert on Tuesday identified the defendants as 48-year-old Richard Roberts; Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25. One of the suspects is in custody and the other two are expected to turn themselves in to authorities shortly.
Video recorded by the public shows that Damien Pickett, a black employee at a pier on the south bank of the Alabama River, tried last Saturday to direct the movement of a private flat-bottomed boat carrying white men, in order to make way for the Harriett II Riverboat.
More than 200 passengers aboard the ship waited at least half an hour to dock as the ship’s captain and Pickett struggled to get crew members from the other vessel to move it.
Albert said that was when a white man, topless, charged at Pickett, knocked him to the ground and started punching him.
Other white men in the flat-bottomed boat joined in the beating in a scene that soon escalated into a brawl involving numerous people, several in support of Pickett.
The riot continued with kicks, chair slams and shoving that threw one person into the water. At least one person aboard one of the ships jumped into the water and swam to the dock to join the fight.
The videos show that after a brief pause there was a second round of violence between white crew members and a group of African-American workers.
The captain of the passenger ship called police and Albert said 13 people were detained, questioned and released. Police have requested that an African-American man, seen on video brandishing a folding chair, contact them for questioning.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said the brawl was “caused by foolish individuals who did not use good judgment and caused an event that, by the way, could have been prevented.”
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