Alabama Riverfront Brawl Breaks Social Media

If you were wondering why folding chair memes and mentions of a “Black Aquaman” swimmer have flooded social media over the past 48 hours, it’s all because of a wild Montgomery, Alabama Riverfront brawl that took place over the weekend.

Current Events :
The (now) historic Alabama Riverfront brawl began when a Black security guard told a group of White revelers to move their pontoon boat (that was docked along the Alabama River) so the Harriott II Riverboat could dock in its rightful spot. The White boaters didn’t take kindly to the Black man telling them what they could or couldn’t do and refused to move. So, the guard untied their boat from the dock to make way for the waiting riverboat.

Feeling privileged, the rowdy boaters began shouting obscenities. Then swinging. Then, one by one gang rushing and attacking the guard. And, that is when all hell broke loose.

As the gang of Whites beat the lone Black man who was only doing his job, the Alabama Riverfront brawl quickly turned into a melee’ between the races. First, 1 or 2 Black males on the dock raced to help defend the security guard. However, several White bystanders saw that as their green light to rush in and fight the guard and his additional Black reinforcements.

A Black woman aboard the waiting riverboat captured and narrated the entire altercation on video. She and other passengers with a birdseye view screamed for other Black males nearby to jump in and help the security guard (who was now being beaten into the dock).

“Y’all help that brother!” the woman shrieked.

Interestingly, a 16-year-old male heard her cry and accepted the call. He jumped off the riverboat and into the water, then began swimming to shore with the speed of an Olympian in order to help the pummeled Black man.

Do you comprehend the historic gravity of a Black man swimming from a riverboat to a Montgomery Alabama dock to help his fellow man run some white men’s fade?! pic.twitter.com/1xMUqjm5SZ

— Old Atlanna (@ATLboneNbred) August 6, 2023

Soon thereafter, everybody on the dock was fighting each other and the Alabama Riverfront brawl was an all-out matchup of Whites versus Blacks. The loaded (and still waiting) Harriott II Riverboat full of passengers hollered and roared as if they were in ringside seats of a boxing match for the heavyweight champion of the world.

However, an unnamed Black man on the dock decided he had seen enough and chose to put an end to the skirmish once and for all.

He grabbed a nearby folding chair and began wielding it as a weapon against the sea of White fighters. Some quickly cowered in fear and pain as the folding chair made contact and knocked sense back into their brawling brains. Others were forced off the dock and into the water.

“Welp… turns out that 65-year-old [Black] man can really f*cking throw ’em,” one of the White attackers said afterward of the battle that left him bloodied and bruised.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/881LpqIfIX

— thecook. (@naaeee__xx) August 7, 2023

Police were called. Arrests were made. Everybody scrambled.

“Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job,” Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed said Sunday. “Warrants have been signed and justice will be served.”

“They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened,” said Leslie Mawhorter, who was a passenger on the Harriott II and witnessed the entire event.

“Everything just spiraled from there. I knew something was going to go down, because their attitude was just, ‘You can’t tell us what to do,’” Mawhorter added. “They were going to be confrontational regardless of who you were.”

By Monday morning, the Alabama Riverfront brawl had broken social media. Memes with chairs and celebratory cheers for the young teen who swam to help his Black elder flooded across the site formerly known as Twitter.

Although the brawl underscored the continued prevalence of white privilege and racism in the South, it also proved that Black Southerners were not going to sit back and watch an elder Black man be beaten to a pulp by a gang of White attackers.

OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
Alabama Riverfront brawl breaks social media.