RUMFORD – Alexandra Forbes believes her son was chased by a mob during a downtown street fight because he’s black.

Forbes, 36, said her son, Marquis Forbes, 19, walked to a store for a pack of cigarettes and ended up being chased on Cumberland Street by dozens of local white people.

“One person opened his mouth and caused 63 people to act like fools. It didn’t have to escalate that high,” Alexandra Forbes said. “I’m not saying everybody here is a racist, but I know 63 of them that are.”

Police called the fight that began on the evening of Aug. 18 and ended early the next morning a “near riot.”

The investigation continued Friday into the incident that escalated into a large mob chasing one young black man and his white friend through town.

The Forbeses, of 8 Clachan Place, accused police of mishandling the situation by treating them as the instigators. They also claim a deputy drew his Taser on them.

At the time, police were busy responding to multiple complaints associated with a gathering of people on Cumberland Street and a stabbing, which they believe is unrelated to the mob scene, Sgt. David Bean said Friday.

Calls to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office were not returned Friday.

Bean said the responding officers simply followed protocol.

“They were trying to get on with what they had to do and apparently (the Forbeses) took it the wrong way. The officers sent people on their way to get them out of harm’s way, but everybody was being disorderly and all shook up, so, the victims, being upset, could look like offenders. Whatever you want to call it, it was a near riot,” Bean said.

Marquis Forbes said the mob chased him and his friend for four blocks, to his front porch.

“I get home and my mom’s on the phone with the police,” he said. “Then the police get here and they put Tasers on me and my mom. They had my friend on his stomach spread-eagled on the ground while holding a Taser to him. It was so ridiculous that I started flipping out and said, ‘I’m the … victim! I called you all!'”

The initial attack, Marquis Forbes said, happened on Aug. 16 on Cumberland Street when his friend was assaulted. He went to his friend’s aid only to be attacked by the man’s six friends.

Sgt. Bean acknowledged there was a fight that night, after which two Rumford men were arrested and jailed on disorderly charges.

Retaliation came two days later, Marquis Forbes said.

Regarding that night, Bean said people from Lewiston and Rumford began massing on Cumberland Street.

“We were told there was a feud between people from Lewiston and Rumford. By my realization, this wasn’t racially motivated, because it appeared to me that both sides were of mixed races,” Bean said. “There were so many people all up and down Cumberland Street and a lot of the people were out looking for trouble.”

Forbes said he was on Hancock Street when he was jumped by some of the Aug. 16 combatants.

“There were 30 to 40 people outside and only me, and I told them, ‘I’m not a punk,’ and they said, ‘We’re going to get you, nigger. You better run, nigger,'” he said.

He said he fought, then ran to his friend’s house. By then the crowd – half of whom he knew – had doubled in size, so he and his friend ran for the Forbes’ house.

Mother and son said they didn’t intend to press charges due to how they were treated by police – both that night and in the past.

Bean said charges should be pressed to possibly prevent further violence.

“My impression of it is that there were a lot of people and several of them were drinking on Cumberland Street, and there were bad words between people from different towns and it just blew up from there,” Bean said.