Twelve Days in May: May 11–15

No one knows who the man is, but he tells Jones that a large, unruly crowd is gathering in Anniston.

On an isolated stretch of highway about six miles southwest of Anniston, two of the trailing cars race around to the front of the bus.

Most of the local residents, however, either look on in silence or urge the Klansmen to continue their assault, until ambulances arrive to carry the injured to the hospital.

Nightfall approaches and a crush of menacing Klansmen are threatening to burn the hospital to the ground.

The ACMHR is a local organization formed after state legislators blocked the NAACP from operating in Alabama.

Eugene “Bull” Connor, commissioner of the police and fire departments, supports the Klan.

Supported by and an advocate of the Ku Klux Klan, he brought worldwide condemnation upon Birmingham in 1963 when he used police dogs and fire hoses against young civil rights protesters.

Supported by and an advocate of the Ku Klux Klan, he brought worldwide condemnation upon Birmingham in 1963 when he used police dogs and fire hoses against young civil rights protesters.

They run to the front, screaming a few parting taunts at the Freedom Riders before rushing out the door.

Peck, however, bears the brunt of the Klan attack.

Looking like war casualties, the two eventually convince a black taxi driver to take them to Shuttlesworth’s home.

Shuttlesworth arranges for an ambulance to take Peck to Carraway Methodist Hospital, but doctors refuse to treat him. They worry about Klan reprisals.

No one outside the South can understand the violence. People worldwide are shocked and dismayed.

Finally, John Seigenthaler, a Southerner and a representative of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) who is at the airport trying to negotiate the riders’ departure, instructs the airport manager to sneak the Freedom Riders on a plane, announce the flight, and then under no circumstances answer the phone.

After the events in Birmingham, the Freedom Riders are surprised to be given a hero’s welcome by local civil rights activists and others who also are in the city to commemorate the Brown decision.