Officers with the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) arrested a fourth individual concerning Saturday’s brawl at Montgomery’s Riverfront.
On Saturday evening, Montgomery Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a disturbance on Coosa Street. They witnessed a large group of people in a fistfight on the dock of the Alabama River.
Witnesses told the press the fight escalated from a disagreement about a pontoon boat blocking the dock where the Harriott II riverboat was attempting to dock. Several witnesses posted videos of the scene to social media.
It appears the brawl involved both males and females. In one of the videos, police can be seen handcuffing participants on both sides of the conflict.
The fight drew widespread media attention, with several mainstream media outlets suggesting there was a racial narrative as the pontoon crew was predominantly white and the riverboat crew was predominantly black.
Nevertheless, the captain of the Harriott II stated earlier this week that his crew had previously had problems with the group on the pontoon boat. He dismissed the possibility that there was a racial component to the fight.
On Tuesday afternoon, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of a racial motive. According to reports, 21-year-old Mary Todd turned herself in to the police. The MPD charged her with the assault of riverboat co-captain Damien Pickett. Todd is the first female charged with a crime concerning the incident.
Richard Roberts, 48, Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Chase Shipman, 25, have also been charged.
All four are members of the pontoon crew. It is not clear what relationship, if any, Mary Todd has with Allen Todd.
Shipman owns a Selma mini-mart and received backlash in the form of numerous negative Yelp reviews after taking to Facebook to recuse himself. In the Facebook post, which appears to have since been taken down, Shipman claimed he tried to get away from the brawl and did not condone what happened.
According to voting records, Shipman is a documented Democratic Party voter.
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