Practically two months after the riverfront brawl in Alabama, an legal professional for a person concerned is insisting that the assault that led to the melee was pushed by racism.
Lee Merritt, an legal professional representing Reggie Ray, a Black man going through disorderly conduct prices after pummeling a person with a folding chair, says the assault on the lead deckhand Dameion Pickett on Aug. 5, which prompted his coworkers and bystanders to affix the combat, was racial.
Merritt informed “Good Morning America” that his consumer, Ray, was “involuntarily roped into the disorderly conduct initiated by a violent white mob.”
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In the course of the “GMA” interview on Monday, Sept. 25, Pickett informed co-anchor Robin Roberts that he had requested a bunch of white boaters who have been illegally parked in a spot on the dock designated for the Harriott II dinner and leisure cruise to maneuver over so the larger vessel may park. However as a substitute of cooperating, the group of boaters, who he mentioned had beers in hand, grew irate.
Watch video of the brawl right here.
Video of the incident reveals a white man punching Pickett within the face earlier than the opposite boaters begin to assault Pickett as he tries to combat again.
“This man simply put his hand on me. I used to be, like … it’s my job, however I’m nonetheless defending myself on the identical time. So when he touched me, I used to be, like, ‘It’s on,’ ” Pickett mentioned.
His coworker, 16-year-old Aaren Hamilton-Rudolph, informed “GMA” he couldn’t stand by and watch Pickett being crushed, so he jumped into the water and swam to the deck.
Pickett’s coworker Roshein “RahRah” Carlton, additionally rushed to assist his good friend. He informed “GMA” that he heard the group use “racial slurs.” Pickett mentioned they used some “nasty phrases.”
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The mom of one other coworker who was attacked by the mob informed police in a sworn assertion, “You may hear males yelling ‘f–okay that n—er.’”
Nonetheless, the 4 folks from the personal boat arrested for the brawl are all going through misdemeanors. None of them have been hit with hate crime offenses.
Montgomery Police Chief Albert Pickett mentioned police “checked out each avenue” and left “no stone unturned” however “have been unable to current any perception in a riot or racially biased prices at the moment,” in keeping with AL.com.
