A screenshot from one of the videos of the brawl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday. The video shows a fight that broke out between an apparent dock worker 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
@Josh_Moon / Screenshot by NPR
Police in Montgomery, Ala., arrested multiple people after responding to a brawl at the city’s waterfront on Saturday — a fight that quickly went viral after videos of the melee surfaced online.
The Montgomery Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to a disturbance near Riverfront Park, and “At the scene, they located a large group of subjects engaged in a physical altercation.” Police said several people were detained and that four active warrants have been issued, with more potentially on the way with the review of additional video. Police say that unspecified charges are pending.
Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed applauded the police response in a written statement and said that warrants are being signed and “justice will be served.”
“This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred. As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community,” Reed said. “Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system.”
There was an all out brawl in Montgomery yesterday. This is the beginning of it. The man in the white shirt is a dock worker for the city. According to several people present, the white guys had been told to move their pontoon so the city’s riverboat could park. Then this…. pic.twitter.com/BVkgXID8JX
— Josh Moon 🇺🇸 (@Josh_Moon) August 6, 2023
Alabama political reporter Josh Moon shared video of the fight on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It shows that the incident appears to have been started by a group of boaters who had docked their pontoon boat in a space reserved for the city’s riverboat, Harriott II. Videos show a Black man, who appears to be a dock attendant, working to untie the pontoon boat when he is confronted a group of white men who appear to be responsible for the boat.
The riverboat’s operator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the attendant was pointing to the riverboat making its way to the dock, one of the white men becomes visibly agitated before striking him. One man appears to try to break up the attack, but then more young white men sprinted along the dock and joined the fight, then dragging the Black man to the ground to continue their attack.
The attack quickly spiraled out of control as several onlookers joined in on the chaos.
The incident started just hours after former President Donald Trump joined his supporters at an annual Republican Party summer dinner in Montgomery, which is credited as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.