" The way those white men were attacking him , I ’ve always feel like he would ’ve been seriously hurt if he had n’t get down to champion himself , " one Twitter exploiter write .
This past August, abrawl took place on a riverfrontin Montgomery, Alabama after a group of white boat riders purportedly yelled racial slurs and physically attacked a Black co-captain who asked them to move their pontoon boat. Millions watched as dock workers and passengers seemingly jumped to the co-captain’s defense, which resulted in multiplearrests.
Now, Dameion Pickett, the co-captain involved, is reportedly being charged withthird-degree assault.
After hearing the news, many people online falsely assumed that the assault charges against Pickett were being brought by the Montgomery Police Department, with one userwriting: “Montgomery needs to get its act together and drop those charges.”
Montgomery needs to get its number together and drop those charges.https://t.co/lMcg0G3xYi
It turns out, the assault charges against Pickett are apparentlyunrelatedto both the city of Montgomery and the police department. Here’s everything we know so far:
1.Assault charges against Pickett were filed on October 26 in Montgomery Municipal Court, according toAlabama News.
2.The mayor of Montgomery and the Montgomery Police Chiefreleased a statementexplaining their lack of involvement with the charges brought against Pickett: “Neither the city nor the Montgomery Police Department filed these charges. The Montgomery Police Department’s investigation only lists Mr. Pickett as a victim.”
3.Instead, thecomplainantreportedly lists Zachary Shipman, one of the passengers who was on the pontoon boat. According to theAlabama Political Reporter, Shipman claims Pickett was the one who struck him first, saying, “I was not trying to fight,” in a statement.
The response online has been a combination of shock and anger from viewers who watched the viral brawl videos back in August. Sunny Hostin, host of ABC’sThe View,reacted to the charges against Pickett,writing: “Whaaaaaat? For defending himself??”
Whaaaaaat ? ! ! ! For defending himself???https://t.co / bCRi9o2Veu
Another user defended Pickett’s actions,writing: “We’ve all seen the videos…the way those white men were attacking him, I’ve always felt like he would’ve been seriously injured or even possibly killed if he hadn’t started to defend himself. All of those people came to rescue him… I’m speechless. Nothing’s changed in 150 years.”
we ve all seen all the videos … the way those bloodless man were attacking him , i ve always feel like he would ve been severely spite or even perchance killed if he had nt started to fight himself + all those people came to rescue him … im speechless . nothing ’s changed in 150 years.https://t.co/VT5Y9IkpmG
Agreeing, another userpointed outthe injustices that Black Americans face: “Being Black in America means that ‘stand your ground’ or self defense doesn’t apply to you.”
Being Black in America means that “ fend your ground ” or ego defence reaction does n’t apply to you . What an unacceptable resultant .
Pickett is scheduled to bearraigned on November 21according to municipal court records. We’ll update you as things develop.
