Who was arrested in the Montgomery Riverfront brawl? Police name three white suspects charged over fight

On Tuesday, August 8, three white suspects were arrested in connection to the Montgomery Riverfront brawl. On Saturday, August 5, they were reportedly involved in the assault of 42-year-old Black man named Reggie Gray, who was working at the Riverfront.

After an argument about boat parking spaces, the white suspects allegedly punched Gray several times. However, several Black men in the vicinity came to Gray's aid, causing an all out brawl between the two groups.

According to the Montgomery Police, the three white suspects have been arrested as Allen Todd, 23, Zachary Shipman, 25, and Richard Roberts, 48.

The Guardian noted that while both Todd and Shipman have been charged with one count of assault, the 48-year-old suspect has been charged with two counts of assault.

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Race has been a topic of discussion in the Montgomery brawl

Due to the fact that both groups involved in the Montgomery brawl were of different races, there has been much speculation about whether the color of the victim's skin played a role in the incident. Darryl Albert, the Police Chief of Montgomery, said that officials have no plans to level hate-crime charges against the suspects.

As per the Guardian, the racial angle has been a consideration in the brawl since the city has a history of civil rights issues. While the three white suspects are said to have attacked Reggie Gray over an unrelated dispute, many netizens believe black civilians came to help the security guard as an act of racial solidarity.

In the wake of the incident, Mayor Steven L Reed sided with the security guard, describing the three white suspects as clear instigators in the incident.

“The Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants are being signed and justice will be served,” Reed said.

Police Chief Darryl Albert, however, focused on discussing how mass brawls of this scale must not become a trend in the city:

“Well first of all this is not indicative of who we are as a city. We will not allow this type of behavior in our city."

The Montgomery advisor noted that in the immediate aftermath of the brawl, authorities had detained over 13 individuals. However, they supposedly realized that several of the black men involved had only entered the fray to defend Gray.

Leslie Mawhorter, a 52-year-old witness of the brawl, condemned the actions of the suspects. Mawhorter said that she was aboard the Harriott II, a cruise boat which was attempting to park at the dock, when the three suspects refused to move their smaller boat.

“They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened," Mawhorter said.

Mawhorter added that she believed the suspected assailants may have been under the influence of alcohol.