Chair-Wielding Alabama Man Who Defended Dock Worker Being Attacked By White Boaters Avoids Jail Time

Reggie Bernard Ray, has agreed to complete 50 hours of community service and a 90-day suspended sentence after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.

Earlier this summer, a brawl occurred at an Alabama waterfront in Montgomery went viral when a Black dock worker was filmed being attacked by white boaters after he asked them not to park a boat in a restricted area. Several Black people came to the defense of the older dock worker, including a man who came wielding a folding chair at the white attackers. After being caught on video, the man surrendered to police authorities several days later. Several months later, after entering a conditional guilty plea, he will not have to serve any jail time.

According to al.com, the man who swung that chair, Reggie Bernard Ray, has agreed to complete 50 hours of community service and a 90-day suspended sentence after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct. Montgomery Municipal Judge Milton Westry also stated that Ray has to pay $357 in court costs. He made the plea on Dec. 11.

The arresting officer said in deposition papers that body camera footage revealed that Ray hit a white man who was wearing shorts and no shirt a couple of times with a folding chair.

“Via body cam video footage seen (on Aug. 9, 2023), Ray can be seen striking a white male wearing gray shorts and no shirt with the white chair several times.”

The Associated Press reported that the incident took place in Alabama after people filmed several white boaters striking a Black riverboat co-captain after he asked them not to place their boat in a designated spot on the dock. After one of the attackers went after the dock worker, several Black crew members and bystanders came to his defense, including a young boy who jumped in the water and swam to defend the dock worker.

Four white boaters were charged for their role in the attack, and all of them pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges ranging from harassment to assault.