Photos: Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary: Thousands crowd Selma bridge

 Thousands of people crowded an Alabama bridge on Sunday, many jammed shoulder to shoulder, many unable to move, to commemorate a bloody confrontation 50 years ago between police and peaceful protesters that helped bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
A day after President Barack Obama had walked atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge, police said tens of thousands of people had joined the crush on and around the small bridge. Many came from around the country for several events commemorating the landmark moment. More pics after cut...



William Baldwin, 69, of Montgomery, brought his two grandsons, ages 11 and 15, to the bridge Sunday so they could grasp the importance of the historic march he took part in a half century earlier.
"They're going to take this struggle on and we have to understand the price that was paid for them to have what they have now," Baldwin said. "It wasn't granted to them, it was earned by blood, sweat and tears."
Some sang hymns and others held signs, such as "Black lives matter, all lives matter."

On March 7, 1965, police beat and tear-gassed marchers at the foot of the bridge in Selma in a spasm of violence that shocked the nation. The attack help build momentum for passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.
Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at Brown Chapel AME Church Sunday, drew parallels, without being explicit, between the events of 1965 and today. He noted that the "Bloody Sunday" march was sparked by the shooting death of activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, "an unarmed, young black man."
"An unarmed, young black man," he repeated.
Annie Pearl Avery, 71, recalled being arrested on Bloody Sunday as she tried to get a nurse to the bridge. She said it was one of many times she was arrested during the freedom rides of the 1960's.

The nurse was needed, she said, because the young activists were uncertain if local white doctors were members of the Ku Klux Klan.
"I heard the explosions. I thought it was gunshots. It was the tear gas," Avery said.
Earlier Sunday, Selma officials paid tribute to the late President Lyndon Johnson for the Voting Rights Act. The attack on demonstrators preceded a Selma-to-Montgomery march, which occurred two weeks later in 1965. Both helped build momentum for congressional approval of the Voting Rights Act later that year.

President Barack Obama, center, walks as he holds hands with Amelia Boynton Robinson, who was beaten during "Bloody Sunday," as they and the first family and others including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga,, left of Obama, walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. for the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Saturday, March 7, 2015. From front left are Marian Robinson, Sasha Obama. first lady Michelle Obama. Obama, Boynton and Adelaide Sanford, also in wheelchair.

 

President Barack Obama hugs Rev. Leodis Strong, Minister of Brown Chapel AME, after he said a closing prayer, while former President George W. Bush talks with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., by the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Saturday, March 7, 2015. 

 

Lamar Dudley, of Selma, stands on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after a speech by President Barack Obama, Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Selma, Ala. 

 

President Barack Obama and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., hold hands in front of a sign that says "Selma" during a prayer after Obama spoke by the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

 

President Barack Obama, with his daughter Sasha Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and Marian Robinson walk to board Air Force One at sunset as they leave Montgomery, Ala., Saturday, March 7, 2015, after attending 50th anniversary events in Selma, Alabama commemorating “Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement. Partially obscured behind the president is his daughter Malia. 

 

President Barack Obama speaks near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

 

Erica Williams, left, of Washington, Gwendolyn Richardson, of Beatrice, Ala., center, wait for President Barack Obama to arrive and speak by the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

 

Laura Bush, second from left, and former President George W. Bush, as well as members of Congress and civil rights leaders make a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

 

A woman takes a photo of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Selma, Ala. 

 

Crowds gather near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Selma, Ala. 

 

Mercedes Binns, who has been to Selma 17 times because of its civil rights history, walks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Selma, Ala. 

 

R Jesus McNair, of Detroit, walks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge with his President Barack Obama mask, Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Selma, Ala.

Source- Associated Press