A video of the incident, which appeared to be racially divided, was shared Sunday on social media.
Several people were taken into custody Saturday night after a fight on the dock at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park.
A video of the incident, which appeared to be racially divided, was shared Sunday on social media.
Montgomery police said they responded to a disturbance at the 200 block of Coosa Street at 7 p.m. According to MPD, a large group of people were fighting. Several were detained, MPD said.
The fight was captured on video by onlookers. It’s been reported that the fight began because a pontoon boat was blocking dock space needed to park a riverboat. That area is the regular spot reserved for the Harriott II Riverboat.
On Sunday, MPD said there were four active warrants issued from the fight, with a possibility of more after review of additional videos.
"Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job," Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed said Sunday in a release on social media. "Warrants have been signed and justice will be served."
One short video, posted on social media by Josh Moon of the Alabama Political Reporter, shows several white people fighting a single Black man, who according to Jasmine Williams of WSFA is a dock worker. The only audio heard is from witnesses yelling, but it appears to begin with an argument between the Black man and one of the white men. Another white man rushes and hits the Black man, who backs up and tosses his hat into the air. Then the fight begins in earnest, and several white people begin hitting the Black man.
During the video, one witness, apparently watching from the riverboat, screamed repeatedly, “Y’all help that brother!” to onlookers who were on shore. It appears some people from the shore did join in to defend him, and the video shows at least one Black man dive into the water from the riverboat.
“Get up there, young buck!” yelled another voice on the video.
By the time the swimmer climbed up onto the dock, about a minute into the video, most of the altercation appeared to be over in Moon's video.
A separate video posted by Lauryn Lauren shows scenes after that, as the Harriott II was preparing to dock. A group of people approached the pontoon boat, and more fighting broke out. At least one person fell into the water from the dock. Authorities were soon on the scene and police began taking people into custody.
"This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred," Reed said. "As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community. Those who choose violence will be held accountable by our criminal justice system."
As of Sunday, authorities have not released the names of the detained suspects. The Advertiser has requested additional information. MPD has not released how many suspects were detained, if they were released or remain in custody, or if they are part of MPD's four active warrants. According to MPD, there will be additional updates Monday afternoon.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel can be contacted
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