Viral footage of a mass brawl apparently triggered by a boat parking dispute has sparked condemnation in Alabama.
Upwards of 20 people were seen throwing punches, wrestling and pulling hair on a dock in the city of Montgomery on Sunday evening.
At least one man was seen trying to bash people with a folding chair, while another appeared to throw a woman into the water as she tried to get up after being knocked down.
Several people have been arrested but detectives have vowed to track down everyone involved and are combing through numerous videos filmed by witnesses.
One clip appears to corroborate a witness’ account that the dispute started over a private boat which was blocking a mooring reserved for a local riverboat service.
Filmed from the riverboat as it returned to dock, the footage shows a man in white uniform loosening the motorboat’s mooring line before dragging the vessel a few feet along the dock and tying it up again.
A woman narrating the footage is heard to say: ‘The man in white is crew from our cruise who got off our ship to go over there to move that black pontoon boat because those guys who parked there were told not to leave it there.’
A shirtless man then rushes over and starts angrily gesturing at the uniformed man, who appears to become frustrated while explaining his actions.
The shirtless man briefly disappears while several more casually dressed people come over to confront the uniformed man, before rushing back over and sucker-punching him.
The uniformed man then defiantly flings his hat away and fights back, prompting several more shirtless men to pile in, push him to the floor and start throwing punches at him and other people around him.
Footage taken moments later shows a large number of people on the same spot now fighting amongst each other, including several people who also appeared to be in workers’ uniforms.
One of the uniformed people who tried to join the fray was seen swimming over from the riverboat after a witness was heard screaming: ‘Y’all help that brother!’
Another voice could be heard shouting: ‘Get up there, young buck!’
In another clip, someone could be heard using the boat’s tannoy to say: ‘Please check the guys in the water, two guys are in the water behind the dock. Make sure nobody drowns.
He then quips: ‘FYI, in the future don’t f**k with the riverboat crew.’
Some of those involved appeared to be trying to break up fights, and were hit anyway.
At one point, cheers are head as a woman is thrown into the water.
Another woman was hit over the head with a chair. Another chair-wielding brawler was seen chasing a man around.
Authorities condemned the violence, with numerous locals commenting online that people on both sides of the dispute shared blame for the chaos.
The mayor of Montgomery, Steven Reed, said: ‘The Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job.
‘Warrants are being signed and justice will be served. This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred.’
‘As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community.
‘Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system.’
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