Last Friday, 42-year-old Reggie Ray turned himself in to the police almost a week after the notorious Montgomery riverfront brawl. “Ray is alleged to be the person seen on video hitting someone with a folding chair,” a moment that has become indelible, spawning numerous memes and gifs.
The chair even sparked a parodied reenactment of the Black national anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” with the lyrics changed to “Lift every chair and swing.”
During a press conference last week, Montgomery Chief of Police Darryl J. Albert said “they were looking to speak with him after he was seen ‘wielding that folding chair.’” A few days later, Ray surrendered himself into police custody, where he was held at the local jail.
Ray is the fifth suspect to be arrested, and according to court records he has been “charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in the August 5 incident.”
However, he isn’t going down without a…fight. In a GoFundMe set up by his attorney over the weekend, donors contributed over $260,000 as of Monday afternoon for Ray and other potential legal clients to support their defense.
On Saturday, August 5, police responded to a disturbance call and “encountered a large group of people engaged in a physical altercation.”
Even though the fight was largely broken down by racial lines, the Montgomery Police Department doesn’t see race as a factor, and after consulting with state and federal partners, there is currently not enough to qualify the riverfront brawl as a hate crime.
Four other white participants in the brawl have already been charged. One man was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault, two others with misdemeanor assault, and another woman was also charged with misdemeanor assault. “Ray is the only suspect so far not charged with at least one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault, though more suspects and charges are possible.”
The police chief has also indicated that although all the charges issued thus far have been misdemeanors, that has the ability to change.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed also spoke to the “fluid” state of the investigation, adding “at this point, the FBI has not classified these attacks as a hate crime, but the investigation is ongoing.”
“As a former judge and as an elected official, I will trust this process and the integrity of our justice system. However, my perspective as a Black man in Montgomery differs from my perspective as mayor. From what we’ve seen from the history of our city — a place tied to both the pain and the progress of this nation – it seems to meet the moral definition of a crime fueled by hate, and this kind of violence cannot go unchecked. It is a threat to the durability of our democracy, and we are grateful to our law enforcement professionals, partner organizations and the greater community for helping us ensure justice will prevail,” said Mayor Reed.
Ray had his first appearance in court Monday morning, and September 1 is the scheduled date of his arraignment.
The city of Montgomery is still conducting an investigation and is asking that if anyone has additional video, to please submit it to Starcenter@montgomeryal.gov.