The man who beat two people with a folding chair during the Alabama riverboat brawl has bonded out of jail.
Reggie Ray, 42, turned himself in on Friday, and bonded out of jail on Saturday after hundreds of people donated nearly $270,000 to GoFundMe for his legal defense as of Monday afternoon.
“Funds raised here will be used to offset the cost of certain damages incurred by my clients and others involved in responding to the chaos at the riverfront,” the page reads. “These damages include but are not limited to medical bills, lost wages/earnings, professional services, travel, lodging and expenses.”
Ray became a hero for the oppressed when he was seen in viral video whacking a man and a woman over their heads with a metal chair.
He was charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
“Mr. Reggie Ray is out,” Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt wrote on social media. “He is in good spirits. He got a speeding ticket on the way home but he was relieved to discover the community showed up for him and others in such [a] strong way.”
Merritt said Ray had “involuntarily been roped into the disorderly conduct initiated by a violent white mob.”
The Aug, 5 incident occurred when a pontoon boat owner refused a request to move his boat so the riverboat Harriott II could dock in its reserved spot at Riverfront Park.
Charges filed against combatants in wild boardwalk brawl
The boat owner and others attacked the Black riverboat co-captain, Dameion Pickett, which sparked the brawl on the boardwalk. Video of the brawl went viral all over the world.
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl J. Albert announced assault charges against Richard Roberts, 48, Zachery Shipman, 25, Allen Todd, 23, and Mary Todd, 21. Roberts is charged with 2 counts of third-degree assault. The others are each charged with one count of third-degree assault.
Police and the FBI said there was insufficient evidence to charge the 4 with hate crimes.
Watch the videos below.
A brawl took place at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama.
Reportedly, a group of white men attacked a black dock worker after he asked them to move their boat. In response, a group of black men intervened to defend the worker.
Several were detained, and charges are pending. pic.twitter.com/4YhGGdB6IU
— BoreCure (@CureBore) August 6, 2023
Another POV of the brawl that took place at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama. pic.twitter.com/ekclNaSRoo
— BoreCure (@CureBore) August 6, 2023
These white people jumped this black security guard at the Riverfront. The staff got off the boat and it turned into WWE Smackdown. I’m so proud of Montgomery ?? pic.twitter.com/4DG5bShXfz
— Housatlantavegas (@_dreadadon) August 6, 2023
