The streets of social media have been ablaze following the riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday, August 5.
The incident began when boaters left their pontoon boat on the dock where it was blocking the Harriott II riverboat from parking.
A Black man, who was working at the riverfront tried to move the pontoon boat to allow the riverboat to park.
That’s when he was accosted by the White family who owned the pontoon boat.
Following a short confrontation, the White men jumped the Black man.
But, what the attackers didn’t anticipate was other Black folks (city workers and bystanders) assembling like the Avengers to come to the security guard’s aid and CLEARING the entire riverfront!
A 16-year-old young man is being hailed as “Black Aquaman” and “Michael B. Phelps” after he jumped off of the riverboat and swam to the dock to help defend the Black security guard who was under attack.
Law enforcement eventually arrived on the scene around 7 p.m. and tried to restore order.
Multiple arrests were made and warrants have been issued.
The names of those arrested have not been released.
Mayor Steven Reed said in a statement released on social media on Sunday:
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.
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 violence will be held accountable by our criminal justice system.
Social media detectives identified one of the attackers in the riverfront brawl as Chase Shipman, owner of Vasser’s Mini Mart in Selma.
He took to Facebook and admitted he was part of the melee, but adamantly denied taking part in the attack on the security guard because he knew it was wrong.
In the now-deleted post, Chase wrote:
I am sure most of you have seen the news about the riverboat incident.
Yes, I was there but I was the first to try to get away.
You can see in the video I attached, and I do not condone what happened.
I tried to stop it and realized that I could not, so I tried to get away.
There is a video of me being the first to run away because what was happening was wrong and I did not want to be a part of it.
I realize I have a business to run and represent and no charges were filed against me because I was not involved.
I know it was wrong and it should have never happened.
See his post and video evidence below.
Unfortunately, the full video clearly shows Chase dropping rapid-fire punches on the security guard, who was on the ground trying to protect himself while under attack.
See Exhibit A below.
By late Sunday afternoon, Vasser’s Mini Mart shut down all of its social media accounts and the establishment is getting dragged on Yelp with over 300 reviews and a 1-star rating.
Yelp has disabled the ability to comment on the business.
Videos of the riverfront brawl have gone viral with multiple angles of the fight, reactions, commentary, and jokes.
Read 25 totally accurate tweets about the riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, below.
TikTok was cutting up too with reactions to the riverfront brawl.
Watch a few reaction videos below. (Swipe the embed for more.)
Even Plies took to his Instagram to share that he wishes he was on the riverfront for the pop-off!
Legendary singer Stephanie Mills has offered to do a charity concert for the “heroes” who may have legal fees.
I do not condone violence, but I do advocate for self-defense.
Let me know your thoughts on the riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, in the comments below or join the convo on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram)
