Black Alabama man who used a folding chair to attack a white group during brutal boat fights pays bail β as GoFundMe raises nearly $300,000 for his defense
An Alabama black man accused of arming himself with a folding chair and using it to attack a white group has been released on bail.
Reggie Ray, 42, is charged with disorderly conduct for his alleged involvement in the August 5 brawl at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park in Alabama. He turned himself in to police on Friday, but has since been released from prison.
‘Mr. Reggie Ray is disabled,” his attorney, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, said in an update.
‘He’s in a good mood. He got a speeding ticket on the way home, but was relieved to find that the community showed up so strongly for him and others.β
Reggie Ray, 42, has been charged with disorderly conduct following the viral brawl
It is believed that he hit another man on the head with a chair while trying to escape
A now-viral video captured the moment when black cruise crew and white recreational boat owners clashed over a pontoon boat blocking the wharf where a riverboat was attempting to dock.
Officials had announced they were looking to talk to Ray, who is believed to be the black man who hit people with a folding chair.
More than $300,000 has been raised for his defense through a fundraising page.
Merritt says he is acting as part of the legal team for a number of people arrested on charges over the incident at the docks and all have since been released.
“As of early this morning, all of our clients who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Montgomery Riverfront incident have been released from prison,” Merritt said.
“The criminal prosecution is no more than a crime if summary dismissal is not justified.”
He said teams are working to ensure the group is supported and added a link to a GoFundMe page.
Fellow alleged boat fighters Zachery Shipman and his girlfriend Mary Todd were first photographed after being released from prison on Saturday.
The two had turned themselves in to the police after the images circulated online.
Shipman is one of four men charged with assault, and his girlfriend Mary Todd was charged with assaulting a co-captain of a black riverboat crew.
The two were released and can be seen in exclusive DailyMail.com photos for the first time since leaving a gas station around 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
When approached with questions, Shipman said, “I can’t talk at all” β while Todd quickly got into the car without saying a word.
Todd and Shipman are charged with assault, along with 48-year-old Richard Roberts – who is accused of beating 16-year-old Daniel Warren by the boy’s mother – in the incident, with police saying investigations are ongoing is.
The same man is later seen hitting a woman on the head with a chair as she sits on the floor
The shocking brawl was captured on video from several angles and posted on social media
The fight started after Damien Pickett, the black sailor, moved boats parked in the spot on the dock reserved specifically for the river cruise
Police Chief Darryl Albert said on Tuesday that 13 people were detained at the scene
The incident was also captured on video from the riverboat
Zachary Shipman (far left) was one of four white members of the brawl arrested and charged for the fight – before Ray became the fifth to be charged Friday
The boy’s mother, Crystal Warren, says she heard one of the attackers say “f**k that n*****” before getting into a brawl with the black sailor at the center of the shocking incident.
She told police she watched the whole interaction and has revealed she heard one of the white aggressors threaten to go get a gun, according to legal documents obtained by TMZ.
Police have also charged 23-year-old Allen Todd.
The video features men gouging out their eyes and hurl punches at each other’s heads, and several people using folding chairs as weapons – including a man dropping a woman to the floor after hitting her with the chair.
Multiple angles of the wild brawl have emerged after it was widely circulated on social media last month.
It seemed to start when the riverboat deckhand, Damien Pickett, 31, got into a fight with a member of the white boat party after asking them to move.
Pickett threw his hat in the air in anticipation of a brawl, before the scene quickly escalated as the pair exchanged blows.
Alongside the couple, police charged Richard Roberts, left, and Allen Todd, right, with assault
Jim Kittrell, the captain of the Harriott II, claimed the attack on Montgomery’s Riverfront Park was racially motivated
Just then, another white man in red shorts tackles Pickett to the ground, before several others join the fray.
As some tried to flee and others jumped into the skirmish, a teenager dove into the water to swim across the river and join the fight.
Mary Todd, is believed to be the woman seen in the viral video kicking Damien Pickett after being knocked down during the altercation.
Pickett had told police that Mary punched him in the throat while holding a beer and “wouldn’t let him pass,” police said. ALREADY. com.
It is not clear if Allen Todd and Mary Todd are related.