John Yang:
Amna, the incident occurred Saturday evening at Montgomery's Riverfront Park along the Alabama River.
A city riverboat was returning from a two-hour cruise, and a private pontoon boat was blocking the dock. Police said the riverboat crew repeatedly used a loudspeaker to ask the men to move the pontoon boat. Eventually, a co-captain took a small boat to the dock and tried to move it himself.
Videos of what happened next have gone viral on social media. The group from the pontoon confronts the co-captain. Words are exchanged. One of the men from the pontoon throws a punch, and the brawl begins.
Several men are seen beating — beating and kicking the co-captain. More and more bystanders join in, and the police have to be called to break it up. So far, three men from the pontoon have been charged with assault, and police say they're still investigating.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed is the first Black person to hold that office. He was elected in 2019.
Mr. Mayor, what was your reaction? What did you think, what did you feel when you saw that video?
Steven Reed (D), Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama: Well, like many people are surprised and then shocked to see something like that happen for someone who was just doing his job.
I was disappointed, to say the least, and it was disturbing.
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