"I went to work, not to be in a fight": Dock worker attacked in Riverfront Park brawl speaks out

Dameion Pickett, the dock worker who was attacked at the Montgomery riverfront during a brawl on August 5, 2023, has finally spoken up. On ABC’s Good Morning America, he spoke about the nearly two-month-old incident and claimed that he was “shocked” after the altercation led to him being attacked.

“I was just doing my job. I didn’t expect this to happen at work today. I was just expecting another peaceful, nice cruise. I’m here by the grace of God. I went to work, not to be in a fight or get jumped on,” he said.

Pickett then talked about how he defended himself when the man put his hand on him. He said that everyone at the dock was yelling.

"We ocould have docked, but we would end up hitting a couple of those boats and be responsible for it,” he said.

The entire fiasco happened on August 5, 2023, when a brawl broke out after Harriott II Riverboat could not dock due to some other boat being parked illegally at the place of the boat. Many videos were floating on social media after the altercation; in some, a shirtless man could be seen running towards the dock worker to hit him.

---

“I was still trying to get that boat in while the fight was going on”: The Montgomery riverfront dock worker speaks up

As the pontoon boat was parked in the docking space for the Big Harriott II Riverboat, a massive brawl happened between the dock worker, Dameion Pickett, and some white men. As the video of the brawl went viral, many accused the men of racism since Pickett is an African-American man.

The dock worker had requested the men to remove their boat so Big Harriot could be parked. However, the pontoon boat people refused to remove the boat.

"I was still trying to get that boat in while the fight was going on. I was still telling the captain we got to get these folks here safely to this dock. This man just put his hand on me. I was like … it's my job, but I'm still defending myself at the same time. So, when he touched me, I was like, 'It's on,” Pickett said.

Pickett also claimed that “everybody was just recording,” and nobody was helping him. He also mentioned how all the passengers inside the Harriott II waited 45 minutes for the boat to be parked, as things were not settling on the ground. After the incident, the authorities charged five people for the incident.

As per the authorities, Richard Robers, Zachery Shipman, Allen Todd, Mary Todd, and Reggie Ray were arrested and charged. While four of them were charged with assault in the third degree, Reggie Ray was charged with disorderly conduct. However, all five of the accused have pleaded not guilty.