The viral brawl between black cruise staff and white pleasure boat owners at an Alabama dock has sparked ridicule online after footage quickly spread.
Shocking scenes saw the two groups flying in a frenzy on the edge of the Montgomery River – with a man even hitting a woman over the head with a chair.
But while millions of people were stunned by the ugly scenes, some saw the funny side and used it to create an avalanche of memes.
One of the most watched was a hilarious take on the melee in the style of a comedic fight, where the main cast members were satirized as characters – including a security guard who appeared to throw the first punch and a man who was swimming in the river to join the action.
While some shed light on the apparent racial divisions in the skirmish, others opted to recreate the brawl with their pals – with one group visiting the site themselves to catch a glimpse of the now iconic chair used in the fight.
The hilarious version of the brawl saw the main cast satiated, including a man who hit someone with a chair nicknamed ‘Chairmageddon’
An avalanche of memes has been spawned by the viral images, the man who swam across the river has won online fame and been dubbed ‘the epitome of Aquaman’.
Racking up nearly 250,000 views in less than a day, the comedic clip of the fight as a cartoon fight quickly gained traction after being posted on Twitter.
The video opens with the black security guard confronting one of the white party boat owners, stopping as he takes off his hat so as not to lose it in the melee to tag him ‘Hat Man: Attacks at the drop of… ‘
As the fighting escalated, one of the cruise staff jumped into the water and swam across the river into the clash.
His heroism saw him widely praised online, with the compilation naming him “Aquaman’s Incarnate” and “Barnacle Boy”.
Shortly after the wild scenes surfaced on social media, many noticed the man hit another boater in the head with a white folding chair.
The as-yet-unidentified assailant was dubbed ‘Chairmageddon’ in the hilarious clip, while three shirtless men who stormed the dock to join the long-running brawl were dubbed ‘The Tugboat Triad’.
In another hilarious reaction to the fight, a group claimed to return to the dock the next day to take a picture with the chair, leading one person to joke that the picture should hang ‘in a black history museum now’ .
Viral video saw a group hilariously recreate the brawl by the pool
Social media was flooded with comedic takes on the brawl, with another group recreating the fight near the dock next to a swimming pool.
The men even portrayed the obvious drunken bewilderment among the dozens of people who found themselves drawn into the fray.
Just as the original fight went viral, the clip of the men racked up millions of views as numerous accounts streamed it online.
And while many joked that they “can’t be serious” for the skit, they were praised for impersonating the brawl to a hilarious degree. At one point, someone dives across the pool to join in the fake crash.
Many memes also took aim at the apparent racial divisions in the clash.
Although no evidence of racial motivation behind the fights was found, many netizens were quick to note how the two sides seemed to be split between whites and blacks.
One person noted that the inventor of the folding chair, Nathaniel Alexander, was a black man.
They joked that he was “clearly a visionary who could see into the future” as his invention helped one of the black fighters in the fight 112 years later.
Among the abundance of hilarious memes was also a clip of the man who swam across the river to join the fight.
They dubbed the clip for the classic Marvin Gaye hit “No Mountain High Enough”, saying the swimmer was “if no river wide enough was a person”.
One person joked that the inventor of the folding chair, a black man named Nathaniel Alexander, could “see into the future” because his invention helped one of the black fighters 112 years later.
Another meme saw someone take a clip of the man who swam across the river to join the fight, which they dubbed Marvin Gaye’s classic hit ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’ .
An avalanche of memes was created in reaction to the viral brawl
It comes after the savage brawl broke out in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday night, with new footage capturing the moment a black man punched a white boater as frantic scenes continued around them.
The newly emerged angle taken from inside the cruiser shows an unidentified black man repeatedly hitting a white man with a white chair.
Despite the shocking violence, the Montgomery Police Department told DailyMail.com they had made no arrests and were not releasing names on Monday.
“There are currently 4 active warrants and it is possible that more will follow upon review of additional video,” police said.
Reports say he may have sparked an argument over mooring, and another angle of the fight saw a man heard over a megaphone yelling “don’t f**k with the riverboat crew”.
The large group of people had returned to the dock after spending time on the Harriott II riverboat, but after returning the space reserved for them had been taken over by a boat owner who parked his boat and the let.
The riverboat sent a staff member to the dock to untie the smaller vessel so those on board could return to shore, when fighting ensues.
