Alabama Brawl: Montgomery Police Chief Grilled on No Hate Crimes Charges as Legal Docs Claim White Man Used N-Word
Aug. 9 2023, Published 2:40 p.m. ET
Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert was put in the hot seat as to why no hate crimes charges have been filed in the Alabama riverboat brawl case by CNN's Sara Sidner during an interview on Wednesday, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The melee, which seemed to divide along racial lines, led to three men being charged with assault after a group of white boaters attacked a Black dock worker last weekend.
Richard Roberts, 48, whose mugshot has been released, is charged with two counts of third-degree assault while Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, have both been hit with one count of third-degree assault.
"Chief, you have ruled out crimes or rioting charges, but hate crimes in particular, you have ruled those out. Why is that?" she asked on Tuesday's CNN Tonight.
Albert said they have been sifting through videos sent to them and noted the investigation remains ongoing.
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"We looked at the entire case, the case in its totality. We looked at the merits of the case," he explained. "We have not only talked about things internally, but we have reached out to our local, state and federal partners to see that we are heading down the right path, that we're applying the appropriate charges."
"And based on the matrix for hate crimes, it just didn't meet that threshold," Albert noted.
It's questioned if that could soon change amid fresh allegations of one of the white men who attacked a Black deckhand yelling, "F--- that n-----," a boat employee claimed.
Further, it was alleged that one of the white men threatened to go and get a gun at one point. RadarOnline.com has reached out to Montgomery PD amid the latest revelations.
Capt. Jim Kittrell, who was trying to dock the Harriott II riverboat before the shocking brawl, told the Daily Beast he felt the dispute was racially motivated.
"The white guys that attacked my deckhand — and he was a senior deckhand first mate — I can't think of any other reason they attacked him," Kittrell reasoned.
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Albert said during the interview that more charges may arise amid new evidence coming to light. "So, we continue to ask the public to provide those pieces of video surveillance to us, to come forward, be good stewards and good witnesses for us, so that we can continue this investigation and let it go whatever path it takes," he said.
"If it rises to the level of hate crimes, if it rises to the level of inciting a riot or whatever that looks like, we will enable and we will do just that."
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