Police have released the mugshot of a suspect filmed in a viral boat brawl of three white men attacking a black deckhand.
A river cruise captain claims his colleague was cowardly ganged up on in a racially motivated attack as it docked in Montgomery, Alabama, US.
The now-pictured Richard Roberts, 48, is one of three men charged for the assault of a deckhand working for Harriot II, his alleged accomplices Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, have also been charged.
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Captain Jim Kittrell has since alleged the incident escalated due to his deckhand's race, and that the white group of passengers had instigated the brawl.
He said: "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 other than it being racially motivated.
"All he did was move their boat up three feet. It makes no sense to have six people try to beat the snot out of you just because you moved their boat up a few feet."
Footage of the wild brawl showed deckhand Damien Pickett, 40, defending himself from the trio of attackers. Captain Kittrell says he and his staff will stand by the 40-year-old.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, he added: "In my opinion, the attack on Damien was racially motivated. They could've been little green men, for all they cared."
Both the Captain and members of the police believe the assault began when deckhand Damien moved the boat belonging to Mr Roberts by three feet.
The now viral incident saw 13 people arrested in total, while police continue to search for Reggie Gray, the man seen throwing a chair in the video, as they would like to speak to him.
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Violence is believed to have erupted on the scene of the boat when a passenger of the private boat attacked the riverboat's deckhand.
Captain Kittrell added: "This was our crew upset about these idiots. This is the same group that comes every year. They're from Selma. And we've had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things."
The investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely.
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