50th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’

Thousands marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8 in Selma.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Edmund Pettus Bridge is filled on March 8.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8 in Selma.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Starting from early morning, groups of people -- some with raised arms, some in song -- marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 8.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A man pushes a tire over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

An unidentified man plays guitar while walking over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Thousands wait downtown to march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8. The chaos meant that various dignitaries didn’t make it to the head of the line.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, has become a potent symbol both of change and of the work many say still needs to be done.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Marchers fill the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Brant George Williams, 7, visits a marker honoring Viola Liuzzo on his way home from Selma with his grandmother. The marker is on Highway 80, where Liuzzo was killed during a Ku Klux Klan attack in 1965 while marching from Selma.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People wait to try to get into Sunday services at Brown Chapel on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Marchers with Students United and the Freedom Foundation stop as people sing “We Shall Overcome” on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A man raises a flag on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday morning in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Amanda Vela, 22, left, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Katie Grunder, 21, of Midland, Mich., march with Students United and the Freedom Foundation on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Marchers with Students United and the Freedom Foundation stop for a rally on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Marchers with Students United and the Freedom Foundation cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Jenny Kwon, 21, of New York, center, kneels for a prayer with others after marching with Students United and the Freedom Foundation on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People wait to try to get into Sunday services at Brown Chapel on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Terion Oliver, 8, stops on his bike to chat with police at Brown Chapel on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People wait to try to get into Sunday services at Brown Chapel on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Carolyn Wheeler watches from her home as worshipers assemble at Brown Chapel on Sunday in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A large crowd gathers on a downtown street before President Obama was to speak during activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.  (Erik S. Lesser / EPA)

President Obama walks between Amelia Boynton Robinson and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) as they cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where Boynton Robinson, Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten by police and state troopers 50 years ago.

President Obama speaks to Amelia Boynton Robinson, who was beaten 50 years ago trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a civil rights march. “They came with horses,” Boynton Robinson told The Times recently of law enforcement. “They came with nightsticks.”   (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, right, and daughters Malia and Sasha join others in touring the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Ala.  (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk with Amelia Boynton Robinson and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.   (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama speaks in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 50 years after civil rights marchers were attacked by police and state troopers.   (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

President Obama hugs U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia in Selma, Ala. In 1965, Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was beaten by law enforcement along with other marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

President Obama speaks Saturday in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.  (Bill Frakes / Associated Press)

A mostly African American crowd listens as President Obama speaks at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7 in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) speaks at a program marking the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Lewis, a young civil rights organizer in 1965, was among those injured by police batons.  (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Laura Bush, from left, Michelle Obama, President Obama, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and former President George W. Bush pray at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

Civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson is pushed in her wheelchair as she arrives for President Obama’s speech at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The president and First Lady Michelle Obama hold hands as Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) speaks before a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.  (Bill Frakes / Associated Press)

Former President George W. Bush and First Lady Michelle Obama on stage during program marking the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, attend the event marking the 50th anniversary of the ill-fated civil rights march.

President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, center, and former President George W. Bush, left, on stage at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

President Obama’s motorcade crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on Saturday.  (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Police watch over a crowd on Broad Street before an event at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.   (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

A large crowd forms near a stage where President Obama will speak and then take a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.  (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Mikayla Thomas, 14, serves at a breakfast honoring the foot soldiers of the Selma March of 1965 at R.B. Hudson Middle School March 7, 2015, in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People walk and linger along the Edmund Pettus Bridge at dusk on Saturday in Selma.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Cordarrious Perry, 26, a nursing student at Stillman College, hopes to serve those who came before him at a breakfast honoring the foot soldiers of the Selma march of 1965 at R.B. Hudson Middle School March 7, 2015 in Selma, Ala.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Selma High School student Briana Newberry, 15, holds up a sign while serving at a breakfast honoring the foot soldiers of the Selma, Ala., march of 1965.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Rev. Al Sharpton waves to supporters before President Obama and others take a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Saturday, March 7, in Selma, Ala.  (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks with people before President Obama and others take a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.  (Bill Frakes / Associated Press)

Martin Luther King III, center, son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., arrives before President Obama speaks during activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.  (Erik S. Lesser / EPA)