Reggie Ray has been charged with disorderly conduct for his involvement within the August 5 brawl.
Ray’s lawyer says his shopper was “involuntarily roped into the disorderly conduct.”
Individuals on-line have raised hundreds for Ray and others who have been on the brawl.
A person who police mentioned was liable for grabbing a white folding chair and swinging it at folks throughout a riverside skirmish in Montgomery, Alabama, is now not in jail.
Native station WSFA reported that Reggie Ray, who turned himself in on Friday, was seen leaving the Montgomery Municipal Jail. The outlet reported Ray had posted bail.
Lee Merritt, a civil rights lawyer representing a number of folks from the brawl, wrote on Instagram that his shopper was launched from municipal jail on Saturday morning.
“Mr. Reggie Ray is out,” Merritt wrote. “He’s in good spirits. He acquired a dashing ticket on the way in which house however he was relieved to find the neighborhood confirmed up for him and others in such sturdy approach.”
Ray, 42, was charged with disorderly conduct, the Montgomery Police Division mentioned in a press release despatched to Insider.
In a press release to ABC Information, Merritt mentioned Ray had been “involuntarily roped into the disorderly conduct initiated by a violent white mob” however will proceed collaborating within the ongoing investigation.
Merritt didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Insider outdoors of standard enterprise hours.
Ray’s launch comes after a GoFundMe arrange by Merritt raised over $220,000 as of Saturday night. Insider couldn’t confirm if the funds raised have been used for his bail.
4 different folks have additionally been charged in connection to the brawl. Richard Roberts, 48, was charged with two counts of third-degree assault. Mary Todd, 21, Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, have been charged with one depend of third-degree assault, in response to Darryl J. Albert, the chief of the MPD.
All 4 folks have turned themselves in as of Thursday, MPD mentioned within the assertion.
In response to police, the August 5 incident — now dubbed the Montgomery, Alabama, riverfront brawl on-line and even by metropolis officers — ignited after a gaggle of white folks refused to maneuver their small boat from a docking spot designated for a riverboat referred to as the Harriott II. When the boat’s co-captain, 43-year-old Dameion Pickett, tried to purpose with the group, one of many white boaters rushed and swung at Pickett, police mentioned.
Movies posted on-line confirmed extra folks attacking Pickett as he defended himself, and bystanders got here to the protection of Pickett in consequence. It will definitely grew to become a large melee with dozens of individuals concerned, Insider reported.
The chair, and the person behind it, grew to become an web favourite after movies surfaced of him whacking a number of folks with it earlier than he was detained.
Following the brawl, folks posed with the chair close to the dock. Some even known as for it to change into a everlasting characteristic of Black historical past.
On TikTok, customers started posting movies humorously coaching for his or her subsequent struggle (or their subsequent tennis match) utilizing folding chairs.
Following Ray’s arrest, folks on Twitter started asking to “Free Reggie” and started denying that they’d ever seen a person utilizing a folding chair within the first place.
As for whether or not or not any hate-crime prices or prices for inciting a riot can be introduced, MPD mentioned Tuesday that they didn’t imagine the occasions “match the standards” for such prices based mostly on present proof.
Nevertheless, Jim Kittrell, Captain of the Harriott II, advised the Day by day Beast that he didn’t imagine there was “every other purpose” than racism that will inspire the group of males to assault his shipmate.
“The white guys that attacked my deckhand — and he was a senior deckhand first mate — I am unable to consider every other purpose they attacked him apart from it being racially motivated,” Kittrell advised the Day by day Beast. “All he did was transfer their boat up three ft. It is not sensible to have six folks attempt to beat the snot out of you simply since you moved their boat up a number of ft. In my view, the assault on Damien was racially motivated.”
Learn the unique article on Insider