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Black riverfront worker said he ‘hung on for dear life’ during Montgomery attack

The Harriott, a riverboat, remains docked on August 8, 2023, on the Alabama riverfront in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. Three people have now been charged in the large fight on floating dock Saturday that was captured on video by numerous spectators. (Photo by Julie Bennett/Getty Images) (Julie Bennett, 2023 Getty Images)

MONTGOMERY, Al. – In his written deposition to Montgomery police, filed hours after he was attacked at the city’s riverfront last weekend, dock worker Damien Pickett said he “hung on for dear life” as he was pummeled by a group of white boaters who disregarded his requests to move their boat so a dinner cruise vessel could dock.

NBC News obtained the handwritten account Pickett filed with law enforcement after the Aug. 5 melee.

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Pickett, who has yet to speak publicly about the incident and did not respond to a request for comment, detailed the moments leading up to the fracas, which was captured on video. In his statement, he recounts the battle between white disruptive boaters and the cadre of Black people who came to his aid.

Mary Todd, one woman who jumped into the melee, was taken into custody Thursday by the Montgomery Police Department and charged with third-degree assault. On Wednesday night, two of the three men initially charged in the altercation — Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25 — turned themselves in to face third-degree assault charges. Richard Roberts, 48, was already in custody. They did not answer requests for comment about Pickett’s account of events.

Read the full report from NBC News.

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