Selma to Montgomery marches

====Actions in Montgomery====
With the second march turned and its organizers awaiting a judicial order to safely proceed, [[Tuskegee Institute]] students, led by Gwen Patton and [[Sammy Younge Jr.]], decided to open a "Second Front" by marching to the [[Alabama State Capitol]] and delivering a petition to Governor Wallace. They were quickly joined by [[James Forman]] and much of the SNCC staff from Selma. The SNCC members distrusted King more than ever after the "turnaround", and were eager to take a separate course. On March 11, SNCC began a series of demonstrations in Montgomery, and put out a national call for others to join them. [[James Bevel]], SCLC's Selma leader, followed them and discouraged their activities, bringing him and SCLC into conflict with Forman and SNCC. Bevel accused Forman of trying to divert people from the Selma campaign and of abandoning nonviolent discipline. Forman accused Bevel of driving a wedge between the student movement and the local black churches. The argument was resolved only when both were arrested.<ref>[http://crmvet.org/tim/timhis65.htm#1965m2mtial1 "1965 – Students March in Montgomery; Confrontation at Dexter Church"], Civil Rights Movement Archive History and Timeline.</ref>

On March 15 and 16, SNCC led several hundred demonstrators, including Alabama students, Northern students, and local adults, in protests near the capitol complex. The Montgomery County sheriff's posse met them on horseback and drove them back, whipping them. Against the objections of James Bevel, some protesters threw bricks and bottles at police. At a mass meeting on the night of the 16th, Forman "whipped the crowd into a frenzy" demanding that the President act to protect demonstrators, and warned, "If we can't sit at the table of democracy, we'll knock the fucking legs off."<ref>Gary May, ''Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy'' (Basic Books, 2013), pp. 107, 126.</ref><ref>[http://crmvet.org/tim/timhis65.htm#1965m2mtial2 "1965-Protests and Police Violence Continue in Montgomery; Brutal Attack in Montgomery"], Civil Rights Movement Archive History and Timeline.</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' featured the Montgomery confrontations on the front page the next day.<ref name="ReferenceC">[http://crmvet.org/tim/timhis65.htm#1965m2mmar17 "1965 – Wednesday, March 17"], Civil Rights Movement Archive History and Timeline.</ref> Although King was concerned by Forman's violent rhetoric, he joined him in leading a march of 2000 people in Montgomery to the Montgomery County courthouse.{{citation needed|date = March 2024}}

According to historian Gary May, "City officials, also worried by the violent turn of events&nbsp;... apologized for the assault on SNCC protesters and invited King and Forman to discuss how to handle future protests in the city." In the negotiations, Montgomery officials agreed to stop using the county posse against protesters, and to issue march permits to blacks for the first time.<ref>May, [https://archive.org/details/bendingtowardjus0000mayg <!-- quote="table of democracy". --> ''Bending Toward Justice''] (2013), p. 129.</ref>

Governor Wallace did not negotiate, however. He continued to have state police arrest any demonstrators who ventured onto Alabama State property of the capitol complex.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>