A business in Montgomery, Alabama, is facing a slew of negative reviews after a man said to be its owner was allegedly involved in a brawl over the weekend.
Videos have circulated on social media showing a Black dock worker attacked by a group of white men in the Montgomery Riverfront Park on Saturday evening.
The incident took place after a pontoon boat blocked an area where downtown attraction the Harriott II Riverboat was parking.
Yo this is wild 😭
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) August 6, 2023
A group of white men attacked a black security guard after the security asked them to move their pontoon boat so the big Harriot can dock. They refused to & attacked the security guard.
A group of black men seen & went defend him by beating the white men 💯🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/Qzo3U3Kq1r
Chase Shipman, the owner of Vasser's Mini Mart in Selma, Alabama, according to a report by the Selma Times-Journal, has been named by some online as one of the individuals involved in the brawl. Newsweek has not been able to verify these claims.
The Montgomery Police Department has not yet publicly named the individuals who were detained, arrested, or involved yet, however. Newsweek has contacted the Montgomery Police Department via email for comment.
Since the brawl, Shipman's convenience store business has faced a flurry of negative comments on review website Yelp. So far there have been 300 reviews, with the overwhelmingly majority of them being 1-star.
Newsweek has called Vasser's Mini Mart but was not able to reach anyone for comment.
In addition to this, screenshots of posts allegedly from Shipman, writing from the Vasser's Mini Mart Facebook page, have also begun to circulate on social media.
Chase Shipman owner of the Vasser Mini Mart in Selma, Al says he wasn’t involved in the brawl and tried to get away at Montgomery’s Riverfront Park before it erupted! pic.twitter.com/IDAZ03VAg0
— 8403 Media (@8403Media) August 6, 2023
Newsweek has not been able to independently verify theses posts however as the Vasser's Mini Mart Facebook page is currently not available.
The person posting on the business's Facebook page, alleged that they "do not condone what happened" and said "I tried to stop it and realized that I could not, so I tried to get away."
Some social media users have taken issues with Shipman's alleged comments and his version of events and took to negatively reviewing his business on Yelp.
Many of the negative reviews on Yelp argue that contrary to Shipman's alleged recollection of events, he was actually an instigator in the violence rather than an innocent bystander.
Some of the reviews appeared to suggest they had eaten from the convenience store and received terrible food and or service while other posts focussed on the Montgomery fight.
"I gave a star cause I had to. Otherwise, I would've negative stars. The food? Nausea-inducing. The service? If you enjoy being called racial slurs, go here. The ambiance? Nooses and confederate flags aren't welcoming," Yelp reviewer Andre B. wrote on August 6.
"Not spending a dime in this establishment for fear of being hung by Chase Shipman and his Klan of brothers!" Daxx C. wrote as they shared images of individuals being detained at the pier after the fight as well as other screenshots of a Facebook profile of a person called Chase Shipman.
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About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
