UPDATED 8/15, 2:15 p.m. ET: Reggie Ray, the man who hit multiple people with a foldable chair during the Montgomery riverfront brawl is getting support in the form of donations from various people.
Last Friday, Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney and Ray's lawyer, opened a GoFundMe page to raise $300,000 "to offset the cost of certain damages incurred by my clients and others involved in responding to the chaos at the riverfront," according to the donation description. The rest of description detailed the "damages" as "medical bills, lost wages/earnings, professional services, travel, lodging and expenses."
Since the GoFundMe page went up, 9,800 people have donated over $275,000. Several people who donated also left uplifting messages for Ray's cause.
"I don't condone violence but as far as this country is concerned, black people have been mistreated for years mentally, physically, spiritually and psychologically. It's time we stand up and fight back towards the injustices of this world," one person wrote. Another said, "Chairs to you Brother, keep swinging till they see stars!"
See original story below.
The man who swung a chair at multiple people during the violent riverfront brawl in Alabama has been arrested and charged, according to police.
Reggie Ray, 42, surrendered to authorities on Friday and is being held in Montgomery’s Municipal Jail. Ray was charged with disorderly conduct after he was involved in the brawl, swinging a chair and connecting with multiple people.
There are now five people who have been charged in the ongoing investigation into the brawl at a riverfront in Alabama that happened earlier this month, where a Black deckhand was attacked by a group of white men.
The deckhand allegedly told them to move their illegally parked pontoon, which was stationed in the spot typically reserved for the Harriott II Riverboat.
The brawl broke out from there, as several Black people came to the dock worker's defense, enticing what appeared to be a racially-motivated brawl featuring dozens of individuals.
One of the workers on the riverboat claimed the group of white men called him the n-word and threatened to use a gun. According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, a woman named Crystal Warren, who was working on the riverboat, said one of the white men who attacked the Black worker yelled, "Fuck that n****r" before coming down the dock to fight him.
She also claimed her son was involved in the incident where he was punched in the chest and suffered bruised ribs while trying to break up the fight.
Police have since arrested Richard Roberts after he was accused of punching the 16-year-old and was charged with third-degree assault. There's no word on who called the deckhand a n****r and threatened to pull out a gun.
