Black Co-Captain Accused Of Assault In Viral Alabama Riverfront Brawl
A boat captain, who was Black, and seen in a viral video being attacked by white boaters on an Alabama waterfront in August has been accused of assault in connection to the brawl.
Dameion Pickett, co-captain of the Harriott II Riverboat, is expected to appear before a magistrate on Nov. 21 following allegations of assault in the third degree in relation to the waterfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, over the summer, NBC News reported.
On Aug. 5, a group of private white boaters attacked Pickett after he asked them to move their pontoon from the riverboat’s usual docking spot, which was carrying more than 200 passengers, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert said in a news conference, confirming witness accounts of the incident.
The riverboat waited 40 minutes for the smaller, private boat to move, after which Pickett left the riverboat to speak to the owners directly. The private boaters responded with “obscene gestures, curse words and taunting,” Albert said.
The viral video of the brawl captured shirtless white men shoving one another and throwing punches at Pickett. Several others swarmed around him and joined in punching him. In describing the fight to police, Pickett said that he was hanging on “for dear life” as he was attacked, according to The Associated Press.
A total of 13 people were detained, questioned and released, Albert said. Three Alabama men — Richard Roberts, 48; Alan Todd, 23; and Zachary Shipman, 25 — were charged with third-degree assault in relation to the brawl. A fourth person, Mary Todd, 21, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and pleaded guilty to harassment as a plea agreement. Roberts pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 32 days in prison, while Todd was ordered to attend anger management courses, according to CNN.
In a joint statement on Thursday, Albert and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed confirmed that neither the city nor the Montgomery Police Department filed the recent charges against Pickett, adding that the police department’s investigation into the brawl “only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim.”
The charges came from one of the individuals involved in the fight, the statement read. Pickett’s family was told that the charges brought against the captain stem from allegations that he punched Shipman.
Shipman has claimed he had “nothing to do with” the brawl and was just trying to stop a friend from fighting, according to the captain’s sister, Nicole Pickett. She and her family, however, believe that even if Shipman’s claims are true, Pickett was simply trying to defend himself.
“At that time, you got a bunch of angry a― guys beating up on you in the head, you don’t know who hit you,” Nicole Pickett told NBC. “You just swing [in self-defense].”
