MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: In a case that gained notoriety after a viral boat dock brawl in Alabama, Mary Todd, 21, who was charged with third-degree assault, has been sentenced to attend anger management classes after pleading guilty to harassment.
This sentencing comes as part of a prearranged plea agreement, and Mary now has 90 days to complete the program, all while facing the financial costs associated with her court case.
Who are the others charged in the Alabama boat brawl?
Mary was one of five individuals involved in the August Alabama boat altercation. The others included Allen Todd, 24, Reggie Ray, 42, 48-year-old Richard Roberts, and 26-year-old Zachary Shipman, 26. On Friday, October 27, Todd, Ray, and Shipman had their cases continued, while Roberts was still awaiting his day in court.
The charges against Todd and Shipman are one count of third-degree assault, whereas Roberts faces two counts of third-degree assault, and Ray was charged with disorderly conduct.
In September, the four white boaters pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault charges, following an incident where they were captured on video hitting or shoving a Black riverboat captain, sparking the brawl. The shocking melee quickly circulated through multiple videos shared by bystanders.
Observers noted that the fighting appeared to have racial undertones, with individuals on both sides seemingly dividing along racial lines and assigning blame to each other in the aftermath.
Ray, who was seen in the video aggressively swinging a folding chair into a woman and striking several people during the brawl, had previously pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges. The chair incident became a focal point of the viral video, inspiring memes, parodies, and merchandise.
The video garnered millions of views and widespread attention. Richard White, a lawyer representing one of the white boaters, emphasized the need for fair treatment given the national attention the case received.
The brawl began when the owner of a pontoon boat refused to vacate a docking spot designated for the city-owned Harriott II riverboat, as explained by Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert in August.
Was the Alabama boat brawl a hate crime?
The riverboat captain had to take a smaller vessel to the shore to move the pontoon boat himself, allowing the approximately 200 people on board to disembark.
This action seemed to trigger intense reactions from members of both parties, with video evidence suggesting that they largely separated along racial lines. After the Black riverboat co-captain was punched or shoved by several white men upon reaching the shore, a young Black boat crew member swam ashore to come to his defense.
Jim Kittrell, the captain of Harriott II, indicated that while he thought race may have played a role in the initial attack on his co-captain, the ensuing brawl was not solely a "Black and white thing," The Daily Beast reports.
"I wish we could have stopped it from happening but, when you see something like that, it was difficult. It was difficult for me to sit there in the wheelhouse watching him being attacked," said Kittrell.
Despite suggestions that race may have been a factor, Major Saba Coleman of the Montgomery Police Department clarified in August that hate crime charges were ruled out after consulting with the local FBI.
