An internet fundraiser for a Black man who confronted expenses for his function within the Montgomery Riverfront brawl was lower than $4,000 shy of its $250,000 purpose on Sunday morning.
The GoFundMe account launched by distinguished civil rights legal professional Lee Merritt had garnered $246,025 by 11 a.m. Sunday. Merritt created the fund for Reggie Ray, who was seen on the viral video thumping one of many males accused of attacking a employee from the Harriott II, a cruise vessel, at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park.
Ray, 42, surrendered to police on Friday for a misdemeanor cost of disorderly conduct. His actions within the melee have made him and the chair heroes on-line, with a number of memes circulating for per week after Saturday’s brawl.
One man even tattooed a drawing of a folding chair on his physique in honor of the occasion. However Ray might serve three months behind bars and a $500 positive if convicted.
Harriott II co-captain Dameion Pickett, 43, a Black man, and a 16-year-old white younger man, have been attacked by white occupants of a pontoon boat who refused to maneuver so the larger vessel might move.
Ray was among the many witnesses who got here to Pickett’s protection. He might be seen on the video putting a shirtless white man in grey shorts with the white chair a number of instances.
AL.com studies that an officer grabbed Ray and eliminated the chair from his arms. The person who he struck was cleared of any prison wrongdoing within the squabble. Nevertheless, 4 folks from the pontoon boat have been charged.
Ray was detained within the Montgomery Municipal Jail and was launched on Saturday morning after posting bail, in keeping with Merritt, who indicated that different folks concerned might have confronted expenses.
“As early as this morning every of our shoppers who confronted arrest because of their alleged involvement within the incident on the Montgomery Riverfront have been launched from jail,” Merritt wrote in an Instagram publish on Saturday. “The prison expenses concerned quantity to not more than misdemeanors if outright dismissal shouldn’t be warranted.”
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to Merritt.
