Wild Montgomery riverboat brawl prompts folding chair memes after footage goes viral

At least four people have been arrested after footage of a wild brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, went viral across social media. “There’s a possibility more will follow after the review of additional video,” the police told The Independent.

The incident occurred on August 5 near Montgomery Riverfront Park and was captured by several witnesses before being broken up by Alabama police. The alleged turn of events saw two men having an argument with a Black dock worker. Things soon escalated before many more people jumped in to seemingly defend the man.

In one piece of footage, one woman claimed: “These white people jumped this black security guard at the Riverfront. The staff got off the boat and it turned into WWE Smackdown. I’m so proud of Montgomery.”

Another person shared a different angle of the brawl, writing: “I HATE when people jump people a majority of the time, & even more so when you want to fight or jump someone for doing their job. I applaud EVERYONE that helped that man out.”

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

People were thrown into the water and folded chairs were smashed over people’s heads.

The footage prompted X users (formerly known as Twitter) to do what they do best: Memeify it, with the ‘inventor’ of the folding chair being the centre of memes across the net.

In 1911, Nathaniel Alexander patented a design of the chair for schools, churches and “in small towns when somebody tries you,” one person jokingly quipped.

As the jokes rolled in, many users highlighted that the image “of Alexander” was in fact Lewis H Latimer, who invented many things including the light bulb filament.

Warning: Some readers might find the below images distressing.

There were more than a few wrestling memes too given that folding chairs are a very common weapon in sports entertainment.

The internet couldn’t get enough of the man who swam from the boat to help, dubbing him ‘Black Aquaman.’

Trust us, the internet is obsessed with this brawl.

There have even been recreations.

And a song too.

The Montgomery Police Department have since revealed in a statement that several people have been detained with charges pending.

Officials “acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job,” Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed said in a statement. “Warrants have been signed and justice will be served.”

Reed continued: “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.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.