On March 7, 1965, voting rights marchers attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The Selma to Montgomery march was halted after mounted troopers deployed tear gas as the group of 600 crossed the bridge. Marchers were met with violence, leading to dozens of injuries. The day would become known as "Bloody Sunday."
Each year, hundreds gather to walk across the bridge in remembrance of that fateful day. Many of the participants represent the Democratic Party, including former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Over six decades after Bloody Sunday, Alabama Minority GOP chairman George Williams said it's time for Republicans to start a march across the bridge.
"Because of the fact that every time they walk across the bridge is to Democrats and as if it was the Democrats that thought of it, but there were a lot of Republicans here, too, so Republicans don't get the accolades that the Democrats are getting, and we are working on that," said Williams.
Williams said Republicans should be proud of what they stood for on Bloody Sunday. He said the story being told does not align with the facts.
"Everything that the Democrats are doing is against the Republicans, and when Martin Luther King came, and who was fighting them and trying to keep them from crossing the bridge, was the Democrats," he said. "People think it was Republicans.
"They were marching against the 'Dixiecrats,' or the Democrats, who were the sponsors of segregation," Williams added. "All I want to say is that history should tell the true story of what happened."
A date has not been set for the walk, but Williams told 1819 News he wants to have it before the May 19 primary elections. He is working with the Alabama Republican Party to put the plans in motion. He said Democrats are welcome to come, but it will be a Republican-sponsored event. He hopes it. Becomes an annual walk.
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