Marching to Montgomery
*On this date in 1965, the Edmund Pettus Bridge attack occurred. The incident began when about 600 Blacks left the Brown Chapel AME Church for a 50-mile march to Montgomery, Alabama.
SCLC’s Hosea Williams and SNCC’s John Lewis led them. Several reporters witnessed the long column of freedom-singing marchers as they approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the gateway out of Selma. Roughly 100 State Troopers, commanded by Major John Cloud, blocked the opposite end of the bridge.
After crossing the bridge over the Alabama River, state troopers blocked the marchers’ path. Williams tried to speak with Cloud twice, but the major said, “There is no word to be had…you have two minutes to turn around and return to your church.”
The marchers were attacked by tear gas and charging horse riders within a minute. The incident was seen on national television 16 marchers ended up in the hospital, and another 50 received emergency treatment.
