Alabama Boat Brawl Sparks Jason Aldean Jokes, Videos

A brawl that broke out Saturday in Montgomery, Alabama, has sparked a wave of memes and videos comparing the incident to the lyrics contained within country musician Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" song.

The incident took place at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, according to Montgomery law enforcement officials. Videos posted online from the scene show a group of white men attacking a Black dock worker after a pontoon boat reportedly blocked the Harriott II Riverboat attraction from parking near Montgomery Riverfront Park.

Aldean's track was released in July and received a flurry of praise and scrutiny due to its lyrics, video location and Country Music Television (CMT) dropping the song and video from its regular rotation. The video was filmed outside of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a white mob killed Henry Choate, a Black man, in 1927.

"Jason Aldean has made white kids way too brave," wrote a user on X, formerly Twitter. "A black security guard at a Mobile [sic], Alabama River asked some white kids to move their boat and they decided to jump him. So the rest of the black community that was there jumped in to defend him. Try that in a small town!"

"The best part of the Alabama river boat brawl is that the internet has adopted Jason Aldean's 'Try that in a small town' as the soundtrack to the a** whipping those racists b******s got," commented another.

"The way black people are repurposing Jason Aldean's 'try that in a small town' as a black anthem after the Montgomery Riverfront Brawl is the kind of delicious irony I live for," said another X user.

Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed wrote Sunday on X that local police "acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job."

He added that warrants were being signed and that "justice will be served."

"This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred," Reed said. "As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community. Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system."

A spokesperson from Reed's office provided no additional comment to Newsweek on Monday.

Four arrest warrants for individuals involved were issued with "a possibility more will follow after the review of additional video," according to Alabama.com.

A spokesperson for the Montgomery Police Department told Newsweek via email on Monday afternoon that there were no updates regarding the issuance of additional warrants. No names of those allegedly involved were provided.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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