On 7 th March, 600 marchers were led by John Lewis of SNCC onto the Edmund
Pettus Bridge in Selma. There they were met by a line of state troopers carrying
barbed wire, police batons and sitting on horseback. After refusing requests made
by the leaders to the march to engage in peaceful discussion, the police began to
attack the participants and release cans of tear-gas, in an event which became
known as “Bloody Sunday” and was broadcasted on television across the entire
country.
Clouds of tear gas fill the air as state troopers, ordered by Governor George
Wallace, break up a demonstration march in Selma on what became known as
"Bloody Sunday.”
The SCLC’s next move was to ask for a court order from the Federal District
Court that would prohibit police intervention into the march; however, the Court
reacted instead by issuing a restraining order which prevented the march from legally taking place until a hearing could take place. By 9 th March, many activists
were becoming impatient with the lack of actions, so a second march was called.
In what became known as “Turnaround Tuesday”, King led about 2,500 marchers
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