A Marion man is charged with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct and third-degree criminal mischief after a sworn complaint alleged that he repeatedly punched Robert Shepherd in front of the Albert Turner Annex Building in Marion on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 19, following a Democratic meeting, according to Perry County District Court records.
Lamont Glen Howard, 44, of Marion, is charged with assault in the third degree, a Class A misdemeanor; disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor; and criminal mischief in the third degree, a Class B misdemeanor.
The complaint, sworn Sept. 21 by Sheriff Roy Fikes, gives the time of the offense as 9:53 a.m. and alleges that Howard, with the intent to cause physical injury, repeatedly punched Shepherd in front of the annex while Shepherd was speaking with the sheriff, Probate Judge Carlton L. Hogue and other citizens after the meeting.
Shepherd was bleeding and was taken by ambulance to Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma for treatment, the complaint states. It also alleges that Howard intentionally damaged Shepherd’s eyeglasses during the assault, putting the damage at no more than $500.
Shepherd, who holds a seat on the Perry County Democratic Executive Committee, which Hogue chairs, said in a live video posted on Facebook at 10:02 a.m. that he had been assaulted after a meeting of the committee. The video showed him seated in a vehicle with a bloodstained towel over his head.
“Well, literally, I was just physically assaulted right outside of the Perry County Courthouse Annex,” he said.
He also said, “Police is here, arrests been made, and not only that, though, I’m waiting on the EMS to come. My life’s not in danger.”
Florence Parker, who is listed as a witness on the complaint, described the attack on the video.
“This dude came up to me. I’m thinking he want to talk to me about buying my son’s house and I’m hugging him, and he goes over my head and grabs Shep, while Shep’s back was turned,” she said.
“The Sheriff had him around the neck,” Parker said. “I told the young man, ‘I’m disappointed in you for what you did.'”
Shepherd, an independent journalist and social media personality whose criticism and reporting on Black Belt politics, and on Commissioner Albert Turner Jr. in particular, have drawn a wide following over the past year, has been a public supporter of Hogue in the dispute over the District 1 commission nomination, which Hogue certified for Donald J. Bennett Sr. and which Turner, the incumbent, has contested since May.
On his WJUS radio program Aug. 23, Turner said he would ask the state party to remove Hogue and Shepherd from the county committee for disloyalty, the Times-Standard-Herald reported. The complaint does not state a motive, and nothing in the court record connects Howard to the dispute.
The Perry County Sheriff’s Office announced Saturday afternoon that Howard had been arrested that day “on multiple charges.” The post did not list them.
The complaint was sworn Sept. 21 and the case was filed Sept. 22, according to court records. Bond was set at $5,000, and as of Sept. 22 district court records listed Howard’s status as jailed.
A district judge set the case for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 6 and appointed a lawyer to represent Howard, according to an order entered Sept. 22.
