riverboat co captain

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

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).”

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

Men charged in Montgomery brawl had been ‘trouble’ for riverboat, captain says

The three White men charged with assault Tuesday after they attacked a Black riverboat co-captain in Montgomery, Ala. , and ignited a brawl largely along racial lines had previously caused problems for the Harriott II, the vessel’s captain said, and were repeatedly asked to move their pontoon boat so the riverboat could dock.

Harriott II captain Jim Kittrell told media outlets he believed the attack on co-captain Damien Pickett over the weekend was “racially motivated.”

Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23; and Zachery Shipman, 25, were charged with third-degree misdemeanor assault in the attack on Pickett at a dock in Riverfront Park, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert said at a news conference.

All three turned themselves in, Montgomery Police Maj. Saba Coleman told The Washington Post. She added that Roberts also has a warrant pending for striking a 16-year-old White boy, and that Reggie Gray, a 42-year-old Black man who was seen on video hitting people with a folding chair during the brawl, has not turned himself in after police called on him to do so.

White men charged with assaulting Black man in Montgomery Riverfront brawl

Authorities said that they had consulted with the FBI and would not be able to charge the White men with a hate crime or with inciting a riot. But Kittrell, who told WACV in Montgomery that riverboat staff previously “had trouble” with the boaters from Selma, Ala., emphasized that he believed the assault on Pickett, 43, was due to racism.

“The White guys that attacked my deckhand — and he was a senior deckhand first mate — I can’t think of any other reason they attacked him other than it being racially motivated,” Kittrell, who is White, told the Daily Beast on Tuesday. “All he did was move their boat up three feet. It makes no sense to have six people try to beat the snot out of you just because you moved their boat up a few feet. In my opinion, the attack on Damien was racially motivated.”

He added to radio show “ News & Views with Joey Clark ” that the brawl after the initial assault of Pickett “was not a Black-and-White thing.”

Neither Pickett nor Kittrell, 62, immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday morning.

Albert announced the charges against Roberts, Todd and Shipman three days after videos went viral of the brawl, which was decried by Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed (D) as “an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred.”

“This is not indicative of who we are,” said Reed, Montgomery’s first Black mayor. On Wednesday, Reed criticized Todd and Shipman after they “did not honor their agreement to surrender to authorities,” and said that police “will do what it takes to bring them to justice.”

What we know about the Montgomery Riverfront brawl

Videos taken by onlookers and spread around the internet showed the Black co-captain, Pickett, arguing with one of the pontoon boaters on Saturday 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 was 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, and someone appears to jump off the riverboat and swim to the dock to help the co-captain. As 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 — being recorded hitting a White woman in the head with a folding chair and then being surrounded by police. One person seemed to get punched off the dock into the water.

Police detained 13 people for questioning, then released them, Albert said. The police chief said that “no stone was unturned” in deciding ultimately to not charge Roberts, Todd and Shipman with more serious charges.

“We examined this over a period of time, not only that night but since that night,” he told reporters. “At this time, based on the way the statutes read the laws are crafted, we were unable to present any inciting a riot or racially-biased charges.”

Kittrell has captained the Harriott II for about 13 years, steering the riverboat since it was originally known as Savannah River Queen of Savannah, Ga., according to the Selma Times-Journal . He told the Daily Beast he’s known Pickett for about 10 years during their time together on the Harriott II, a 19th-century riverboat offering dinner, dancing and live entertainment as part of Montgomery’s popular Riverfront Park.

The riverboat captain said this week that the three White men were part of a group of pontoon boaters from Selma that he’s had issues with in recent years.

“We’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things,” he said Monday to the Montgomery radio station.

He pointed to an instance a couple of years ago when one of the riverboat’s golf carts was missing after returning from a cruise. Kittrell said the group had taken it and left it in an odd place: the lobby of a Hampton Inn.

“We looked at the Hampton Inn video, found out who did it, and we had them come down,” the riverboat captain told the radio station. “We were going to press charges then, but the police talked us out of it.”

But what unfolded Saturday was different, he said. When Kittrell noticed the pontoon boat was partially blocking the area where the riverboat docks, he asked the pontoon boat’s passengers over the PA system to move the boat “about five times,” he recalled. After he threatened to call the police on the boaters, “they started shooting birds at us,” which led him to call law enforcement, Kittrell told the radio station.

“I was nice as a peach when I was talking to them at first: ‘Please, help me out here, fellas. Move the boat up a little bit,’” he told the Daily Beast.

Not long after Pickett attempted to push the pontoon boat forward a few feet, Kittrell saw his colleague get attacked by the men from Selma.

“We’re 40 yards or 30 yards away from the dock watching all of this. There’s nothing we can do,” he said to the radio station. “About that time, another guy comes running up. And within a minute or so, it was an all-out brawl. And then I saw some more guys coming, and I said, ‘Oh. Thank God. They’re going to break it up.’ But instead of breaking it up, they jumped on him too. So, at one time, it was like six, seven guys on my deckhand that was trying to move the boat.”

While Kittrell maintained that the attack on Pickett was racially motivated, he emphasized that the rest of the brawl, which appeared to be along racial lines, was not the same as the initial encounter. He said he was thankful for the Harriott II staff for standing up and coming to Pickett’s aid during the attack.

“It was just shipmates trying to help a shipmate. They could’ve been little green men, for all they cared,” he told the Daily Beast. “When they attacked Damien, my crew was gonna jump out and do the best they could to help him out. It was my crew against the people who attacked their shipmate, that’s all it was.”

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A waterfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, went viral. What happened and why?

The riverfront worker who was attacked said he “held on for dear life” as a group of white boaters jumped him in a large brawl that broke out at the Montgomery Riverfront in Alabama on Aug. 5.

In a handwritten account he filed with law enforcement after the Aug. 5 melee and obtained by NBC News, Dameion Pickett recalled what happened the day when the men refused to move their boat so a dinner cruise riverboat could dock.

“A tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face. I took my hat off and threw it in the air,” he wrote. “Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time.”

Pickett has not made a public statement regarding the incident and did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.

Videos that went viral on social media showed a group of white men attacking Pickett. The footage caused an outcry, with the Montgomery mayor addressing the altercation and police issuing arrest warrants.

Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, have been charged with one misdemeanor count of assault in the third degree, a spokesperson for the Montgomery Police Department said.

Another man, Richard Roberts, 48, faces two third-degree assault charges and turned himself in on Aug. 8.

A fourth suspect in the case, Mary Todd, 21, turned herself in on Aug. 10 and was charged with misdemeanor third-degree assault.

A fifth suspect, Reggie Ray, 42, turned himself in on Aug. 11 and was charged with disorderly conduct. Police had previously sought Ray after he was seen wielding a folding chair in the melee on social media videos.

So what exactly happened? Read on for a full explanation of this now-viral incident.

What happened at the Montgomery Riverfront

A large brawl broke out Saturday, Aug. 5, shortly before 7 p.m. at the Alabama capital after Pickett attempted to clear a dock along the river so that the Harriott II Riverboat could dock, witnesses told NBC News . The brawl was fueled by alcohol and adrenaline, witnesses also said.

When a group of rowdy boaters refused to move their pontoon at the Montgomery Riverfront, they attacked Pickett when he untied their boat to make way for the riverboat, witnesses said.

In video shared with NBC News , after a group of what appears to be white men ran along the dock to attack the worker, who is Black, more people joined in and appeared to defend Pickett. Other footage shared with NBC News shows people punching and shoving one another, with one person falling into the water as police struggled to contain the chaos.

The Riverfront is a popular destination with a park, stadium, amphitheater and riverboat.

What police say about the fight

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert, in a news conference on Aug. 8 , confirmed that a group of private white boaters had attacked a Black dockworker, identified as Pickett. Later, police would identify Pickett as the assistant boat captain of the riverboat.

He had been trying to move the private boaters' pontoon to make way for the riverboat.

As passengers aboard the riverboat — more than 200 — waited at least 30 minutes, Pickett tried to get the rowdy private boaters to move. Several members of the private pontoon group then attacked Pickett, Albert said.

Albert added that police arrived on the scene at 7:18 p.m. local time — about 18 minutes after the riverboat captain had called. He said 13 people were detained, questioned and then released.

What did the attacked dockworker say about the incident?

In a handwritten statement filed with police and obtained by NBC News, Pickett said he asked the group “five or six times” to move their boat.

When he and a dockhand were ignored and given the finger, he says, they untied the group’s pontoon boat, moved it “three steps to the right” and re-tied it to a post so the Harriott II could dock.

“By that time, two people ran up behind me,” Pickett wrote, adding that a man in a red hat yelled, “Don’t touch that boat motherf---er or we will beat your ass.”

He said the men continued to threaten him and then one of them called another man over.

“They both were very drunk,” Pickett wrote, adding that then the pontoon boat owner went over “started getting loud … He got into my face. ‘This belongs to the f---ing public.’ I told him this was a city dock.”

That’s when the brawl began. Pickett wrote, “A tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face. I took my hat off and threw it in the air. Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time.”

Adding, “Then the guy in the red shorts came up and tackled me … I went to the ground. I think I hit one of them.”

Sharing more recollections from the fight, he said, “I can’t tell you how long it lasted. I grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life.”

Pickett was eventually helped by other people but noticed the brawl was getting out of hand, writing, “One of my co-workers had jumped into the water and was pushing people and fighting.”

He added that his nephew joined the melee and he had also seen his sister being choked during the fight.

As more chaos ensued, the riverboat had not been tied to the dock but Pickett helped the passengers off the boat. He wrote that he apologized “for the inconvenience. They all said I did nothing wrong.”

“Some of them were giving me cards with their names and numbers on it. Some said they had it all on film, so I pointed them out to MPD,” he added. After the altercation, he was treated at the emergency room where he was treated for bruised ribs and bumps on his head.

What witnesses say about the brawl

Witnesses told NBC News a similar version of events. Christa Owen said she was aboard the Harriott II with her husband and daughter when the brawl broke out.

“What was hard is we were all on the boat and witnessing our poor crewman being attacked by these guys, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” Owen said.

“It was really difficult to watch, and, like I said, we felt helpless, because we were forced to be spectators,” Owen added.

Owen was among those who recorded the altercations, explaining that it was “inexcusable behavior.”

Additionally, Leslie Mawhorter also on Harriott II, added: “They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened. Everything just spiraled from there.”

“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,” Mawhorter continued.

Have police made any arrests?

Four men and one woman are facing charges , according to police: Richard Roberts, 48; Reggie Ray, 42; Allen Todd, 23; and Zachery Shipman, 25, and Mary Todd, 21.

“There was no need for this event to take the path it did,” Albert told reporters earlier this week. “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.”

Was the fight racially motivated?

In the press conference on Aug. 8, Albert said investigators do not believe the incident was racially motivated.

He said that the local FBI and district attorney’s offices are involved in the ongoing investigation. 

“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,” Albert said. “One that was brought on by individuals who chose the wrong path of action.”

What the mayor of Montgomery said about the altercation

On Sunday, Aug. 6, Mayor Steven L. Reed released a statement saying that “justice will be served” after individuals attacked “a man who was doing his job.”

“Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants have been signed and justice will be served,” the statement posted on social media read. “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.”

“Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system,” the statement concluded.

Reed shared how he felt about the incident during a press conference on Aug. 7.

"I feel like it’s an unfortunate incident. Our statement that we put out the other day is that it’s something that shouldn’t have happened and it’s something that we’re investigating right now," Reed said. "We’ll continue to go through that process before we take any additional steps."

When asked if Reed thought the incident was racially charged, he said the brawl is still under investigation, and that authorities are "investigating all angles."

The investigation is ongoing.

EDITOR'S NOTE (Aug. 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. ET): Previous police statements listed the man attacked as Damien Pickett and one of the suspects as Zachary Shipman. On Aug. 11, officials corrected their names' spellings to Dameion Pickett and Zachery Shipman. This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.

Liz Calvario is a Los Angeles-based reporter and editor for TODAY.com who covers entertainment, pop culture and trending news.

Anna Kaplan is a news and trending reporter for TODAY.com.

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

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Black riverboat co-captain faces assault complaint filed by white boater in Alabama dock brawl

The Black co-captain of a riverboat in Montgomery, Alabama, has been accused of misdemeanor assault by a white boater involved in a riverfront brawl that went viral on social media.

The city of Montgomery has charged Dameion Pickett, co-captain of the Harriott II, with third-degree assault. The complainant in the case is Zachery Shipman, who is also facing a misdemeanor assault charge.

The complaint was filed Oct. 26, ahead of the man’s Nov. 16 trial on a charge of hitting and kicking the riverboat co-captain. Officials did not publicly announce the charge as they have with others charged after the brawl.

The incident Aug. 9 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.

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

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.

Contributing: Associated Press

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

Watch CBS News

Two men plead guilty in Alabama riverfront brawl; charge against co-captain is dismissed

December 8, 2023 / 6:28 PM EST / AP

Two men pleaded guilty on Friday to harassment charges in connection with an Alabama riverfront brawl  that drew national attention.

The two men, Zachary Shipman and Allen Todd, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges as part of a plea deal, CBS affiliate WAKA reported . The August riverfront melee in Montgomery drew national attention after bystanders filmed white boaters hitting a Black riverboat co-captain, which then made crew members and bystanders rush to his defense. Video of the fight was shared widely online, sparking countless memes and parodies.

A judge on Thursday also dismissed an assault charge filed by one of the White boaters against the riverboat co-captain. The Montgomery Police Department said the co-captain was a victim in the assaults.

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.

The guilty pleas concluded the last of the criminal cases brought against four white boaters in connection with the melee. The two men were ordered to complete an anger management class and perform community service. They will not serve any jail time unless they violate probation terms.

One white boater previously pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to serve 32 days in jail. Another white boater pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. A Black man, who was filmed swinging a folding chair during the brawl, was charged with disorderly conduct and will go to court next week.

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Montgomery riverfront brawl: Black co-captain faces assault charge

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.

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The riverfront brawl in Alabama reignites national debate over race

Dustin Jones

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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"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.

November 10, 2023

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.

RELATED CONTENT: Two Black Professors Create Curriculum Guide For The Montgomery Riverboat Brawl

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‘I was not trying to fight,’ says man who filed charge against Montgomery riverboat co-captain

• Updated: Nov. 09, 2023, 4:27 p.m.
• | Published: Nov. 09, 2023, 12:24 p.m.

Screengrab from Montgomery riverfront brawl.

• Carol Robinson | [email protected]

The man who sought criminal charges against the co-captain of the Montgomery riverboat in the August brawl said he was not trying to fight when Damieon Pickett punched him.

Zachery “Chase” Shipman, 25, filed the complaint in the Montgomery Municipal Court, which led to Pickett being charged with third-degree assault.

The alleged assault happened during a melee between Harriott II Black crew members and passengers and white occupants of a pontoon boat that was blocking cruise boat’s ability to dock.

Shipman also faces third-degree assault charges in connection with the viral brawl.

It was not immediately clear why Shipman waited three months to seek the misdemeanor warrant.

“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,” a statement from Mayor Steven Reed and Chief Darryl Albert read.

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

In his complaint against Pickett, Shipman – one of the people aboard the pontoon boat - said the police had already arrived and had the majority of the crowd under control when he walked down the ramp of the dock.

“As soon as I made it to the bottom of the ramp, I was approached by a guy in a purple shirt trying to fight me,’’ Shipman said in the handwritten complaint. “I had my hand up saying I do not want to fight.”

“The guy in the purple shirt swung at me and I ducked his punch so he would not strike me,’’ Shipman said.

When he stood back up, Shipman said, Pickett punched him in the right side of the face while his back was turned toward Pickett.

“I took off in defense,’’ Shipman said. “I was not trying to fight.”

“He (Pickett) proceeded after me until an officer stopped,’’ Shipman said. “All of this can be found on video footage.”

Shipman said he sustained a bruised cheekbone from Pickett’s punch.

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.

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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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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)

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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.

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.”

Black Co-Captain Attacked in Wild Montgomery Dock Brawl Now Faces Assault Charge

A man charged in the fight brought a complaint against Dameion Pickett, who went viral for fighting off a group of white boaters.

Alex Nguyen

Breaking News Intern

Carol Highsmith/Getty

The Black riverboat co-captain who went viral for his valiant efforts to fight off a group of white boaters in Alabama in August has been charged by the city of Montgomery with third-degree assault.

According to city court records, a complaint against Dameion Pickett , who has a scheduled court appearance on Nov. 21, was brought by 25-year-old Zachery Shipman , one of the four people charged with hitting Pickett as a brawl broke out on the dock. The other three were Richard Roberts, 48; Allen Todd, 23; and Mary Todd, 21.

Pickett and a 16-year-old white male were originally deemed the victims in the viral incident by the Montgomery Police Department.

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert previously said that the brawl broke out when Pickett, a co-captain of the Harriott II riverboat, “peacefully” tried to move an unmanned pontoon boat that was blocking the riverboat from docking and disembarking its 227 passengers.

Pickett said he had first used the riverboat’s PA system to ask the owners of the pontoon boat to move but they responded by “giving us the finger” and walking off. He and another deckhand then took a separate boat to shore and moved the private boat “three steps to the right.”

“The co-captain [Pickett] was doing his job,” Albert said. “However it quickly escalated.”

Pickett said two people then ran back, including one who threatened to beat him for touching the boat. Several of the boaters were then captured on viral video punching and kicking Pickett.

Capt. Jim Kittrell, whose Black crewmen then faced off against the white assailants once the Harriott II docked, told The Daily Beast in August that he believed the attack was “racially motivated.”

However, Albert said at the time that investigators did not have the evidence “to present any insight in a riot or racially biased charges at this time.”

Reggie Ray , 42, who police say joined in the melee and was the man seen hitting multiple white boaters with a folding chair, was charged with disorderly conduct on Aug. 11.

Last month, Roberts pleaded guilty to two assault charges and received a four-month suspended sentence and 100 hours of community service, while Todd pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to anger management classes.

Pickett spoke about the fight in an exclusive interview with Good Morning America that aired on Sept. 25, saying that after he was assaulted, he had to defend himself.

“This man just put his hand on me. I was, like … it’s my job, but I’m still defending myself at the same time. So when he touched me, I was, like, ‘It’s on,’” Pickett said.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast  here .

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Montgomery mayor, police chief: Charges against co-captain in riverfront brawl not filed by city

M ONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Montgomery’s mayor and police chief have released a statement in which they’re seeking to clarify developments surrounding charges that have been filed against the Harriott II riverboat’s co-captain more than three months after the brawl that grabbed national attention.

Online court records show Dameion Pickett is now charged with third-degree assault. The charge stems from his involvement in a fight with other defendants during the August brawl that was sparked by an argument over a parking spot for the city-owned riverboat.

WSFA 12 News has 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.

The city and police department are making it clear they did not file the charges against him, issuing the following statement Thursday:

“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.” Statement by Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert

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.

The initial altercation quickly grew to an all-out brawl. Video of the incident ignited a social media firestorm.

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. Two of the other five defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the August incident while in court on Oct. 27.

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Alabama riverboat co-captain ‘held on for dear life’ in beatdown by boaters who’d caused ‘trouble’ before.

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The Alabama riverboat co-captain  attacked at the Montgomery Riverfront  said he “held on for dear life” while being battered by the unruly boaters — who had also caused them “trouble” in previous run-ins.

Damien Pickett said his crew asked the occupants of a pontoon boat “at least five or six times” to move from the docking spot dedicated to the Harriott II riverboat, according to a handwritten deposition  obtained by NBC News .

They responded by “giving us the finger” for several minutes, Pickett said.

After being ignored, Pickett and a dockhand then untied their boat and moved it “three steps to the right” and tied it again, he told authorities.

“By that time, two people ran up behind me,” he wrote, saying it included a man in a red hat who yelled, “Don’t touch that boat motherf–ker or we will beat your ass.”

“I told them, ‘No you won’t,’” he said, saying he told them when they kept threatening him: “Do what you’ve got to do. I’m just doing my job.”

Pickett said one of the men called another other and “They both were very drunk.”

While another man tried to “calm them down,” the boat’s owner arrived and “started getting loud.

“He got into my face. ‘This belongs to the f–king public.’ I told him this was a city dock,” Pickett recalled in his statement.

“By that time, a tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face,” he said.

“I took my hat off and threw it in the air. Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time,” Pickett wrote. Someone then “tackled” him, he wrote. “I went to the ground. I think I hit one of them.

“I think I bit one of them, and I can hear them saying, ‘I’m going to kill you motherf–ker,'” he wrote.

“I can’t tell you how long it lasted. I grabbed someone and held on for dear life.”

After struggling to his feet, Pickett said he looked up and saw a colleague. “One of my co-workers had jumped in the water and was pushing people and fighting,” he wrote.

“The guy, the one who started it all was choking my sister,” he wrote, according to WSFA , which identified the suspect as Richard Roberts, 48.

“I hit him, grabbed her, and turned around, and [police] had a taser in my face. I told him I was attacked and said can I finish my job? Because the back of the boat wasn’t tied,” Pickett wrote.

When the situation was brought under control, he said he let off his passengers with the help of police. “I was apologizing to them for the inconvenience. Some of them gave me cards with their names and numbers,” he wrote.

Pickett said he was checked out at a hospital after the attack, where he found out that he had “no broken bones, just a few bruised ribs and a lump” on the head.

His fellow captain, Jim Kittrell, told Alabama’s 93.1 radio station that this wasn’t the first time he had trouble with the same boaters.

“This is the same group that comes every year … we’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things,”  he told the station .

“Like, a couple of years ago, this same group was here. We came back from a cruise and our golf cart was missing. …we finally found it in the Hampton Inn lobby,” he said.

“We were going to press charges then, but the police talked us out of it.”

Kittrell previously said he believed the attack was “racially motivated,” but police say hate charges are not justified.

So far four people have been arrested for the attack, with police saying more are expected.

Roberts, Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, were charged Tuesday with assault, while a fourth suspect, Mary Todd, 21, was arrested Thursday after she turned herself into Montgomery police.

Police did not disclose what role she played in the brawl, but video shows a woman with features similar to Todd’s  hurling punches and shoving others  during the chaos.

It was unclear whether Mary Todd and Allen Todd are related.

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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.

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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Alabama riverboat brawl co-captain says boaters threatened to kill him, riverboat brawl co-captain i got death threats from boaters ... 'just held on for dear life'.

The Alabama riverboat co-captain who got into that epic fight with a group of white boaters says the men threatened to beat him to death during the wild melee.

Damien Pickett , the co-captain of the Harriott 2 passenger ferry -- and the man who tossed his hat in the air -- told police the boaters who ganged up on him peppered him with threats during the beatdown on the docks, telling him "I'm gonna kill you, motherf*****. Beat your ass, motherf*****."

Damien's claims are part of his written account of the incident, first obtained by NBC News , where he tells police his side of the story.

The co-captain says crew members on the Harriott 2 asked the folks on the pontoon boat to move several times because it was docked where the ferry needed to land, and he says the boaters responded by giving them the middle finger.

Damien says he and a dockhand went to shore and untied the pontoon boat, moving it "three steps to the right" before tying it back to the dock to clear space for the Harriott 2 ... and that's when he claims 2 of the boaters ran up to him and yelled, "Don't touch that boat motherf***** or we will beat your ass."

The co-captain says the men continued to threaten them and then the pontoon boat's owner -- dressed in a gray shirt, red shorts and a sun visor -- eventually came over and got in his face.

Damien says the guy who threw the first punch was "a tall, older white guy" who hit him in the face ... and he says he soon found himself being attacked from all angles, so he started defending himself and fighting back.

The co-captain couldn't tell police how long the brawl lasted, explaining ... "I grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life."

So far, 4 people have been charged for the brawl ... Allen Todd , 23, and Zachary Shipman , 25, turned themselves in Wednesday and were charged with one count of assault 3rd degree.

21-year-old Mary Todd turned herself in Thursday ... she's charged with assault 3rd degree, which we're told stems from attacking the co-captain. Richard Roberts , 48, was the first to turn himself in, he's accused of punching a 16-year-old ferry employee.

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