Montgomery Riverfront brawl participants threaten legal action over unauthorized merchandise
Two people involved in the viral summer brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, are ready to take legal action against people profiting off of their likeness. Reggie Ray and Tammie Howard want to put an end to the sale of merchandise spawned from the melee that took place on the Riverfront dock in August.
According to TMZ, Ray and Howard partnered with attorney Jean “J” Carter for their own “Alabama Brawl Collection” of socks, hats, mugs, stainless steel water bottles, hoodies, T-shirts and beanies. Many of the items reference some of the more popular slogans social media users associated with the fight, such as “Let Freedom Swing,” “Lift Every Chair and Swing,” “Fade in the Water” and “Chairman for Justice.”
The novelty items are being sold exclusively on The Black Lawyers website. Some of the goods also feature silhouettes of Ray wielding a folding chair, a stick figure of a person swimming to join in on the brawl and a raised fist, a symbol that has long been recognized for its ties to resistance movements against oppression.
Legal action is also said to include pursuing individuals using associated trademarks without their consent. Ray, 42, was deemed a hero of sorts by online supporters when he struck multiple people with a folding chair in defense of the Harriott II riverboat’s co-captain, Dameion Pickett.
Pickett, who is Black, was accosted by a group of white men after he ordered them to move their pontoon to make way for the boat. Howard, one of Pickett’s co-workers, admitted to pushing a woman into the river in the midst of the chaotic scene. A flood of bystanders came to his aide when he was outnumbered by aggressors. Various angles of the disruption were captured by passengers of the Harriott II and heavily circulated on Twitter.
In total, six people were charged in connection with the fight. Richard Roberts, Allen Todd, Mary Todd, Zachary Shipman, Ray, and Pickett. In October, Mary and Roberts pleaded guilty, respectively, to harassment and assault.
Pickett pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault, a charge brought against him by Shipman, on Tuesday (Nov. 21). The co-captain is expected to stand trial beginning Jan. 30.
Trending Stories
