Sadly, some things never change.
"Bloody Sunday" refers to the March 7, 1965, civil rights march that was supposed to go from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery to protest the shooting death of activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. The roughly 600 marchers were violently driven back by Alabama State Troopers, Dallas County Sheriff's deputies, and a horse-mounted posse after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The state and county officers beat and gassed the unarmed marchers in an attack. Encyclopedia of Alabama
Governor of Alabama at the time: George Wallace - Democrat
-Famously decreed: "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!"
-Famously stood aside his state troopers blocking the integration of the University of Alabama
-Ordered Troopers to block the Selma march, directly leading to the events of Bloody Sunday
- Later refused to order Alabama National Guard to protect marchers in their completion of a follow-up attempt, to the point that federal control of the forces had to be authorized in order to facilitate this.
Mayor of Selma a the time: Joseph Smitherman - Democrat
- Famously referred to Martin Luther King Jr. as "Martin Luther Coon"
- Ordered city police to assist state troopers in repelling the marchers.
- Later claimed that he had always been racially tolerant and that it was the political climate around him that required him to work against the civil rights movement, even though really he was in favor of change.
- Went on to serve as mayor of Selma all the way through the year 2000.
President at the time: Jyndon Johnson - Democrat
LBJ is remembered for the "We Shall Overcome" speech he gave following the event, but things were no different in 1965 than today. He did not immediately order the drafting of the speech. He waited to see how things would unfold and conferred with political allies to decide the best course of action to make the Democratic party look good in spite of all the carnage they had wrought:
While he publicly condemned the attack, Johnson was also calling allies and advisors, searching for a political salve to the situation. "They're going to have another march tomorrow, and, as we see it, it's going to go from bad to worse," he warned. [...] In a conversation with Bill Moyers, a White House special assistant, Johnson expresses a shocking disdain for Martin Luther King Jr.'s actions: "I really think we ought to be firm on him myself," he says. "I just think it's outrageous what's on TV. I've been watching it here and it looks like that man is in charge of the country."
The Atlantic