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| One major turning point was national news coverage of civil-rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama in May of 1963. When citizens took to the streets to protest against repressive laws, police began to arrest demonstrators who had been refused a permit to assemble for peaceful purposes. The Birmingham police chased crowds of protestors through a public park. Television crews on the scene captured the scene as thousands of protestors crowded together on the streets of Birmingham. The police moved into the unarmed crowds with dogs and began making arrests. The use of police dogs to terrorize participants in a peaceful public assembly shocked and frightened the nation. Bull Connor, the Chief of Police, then ordered the Fire Department to turn on water hoses to dispel the protestors. The crowds attempted to stand their ground against fire hoses and water cannons with hundreds of pounds of pressure. Individuals hit full force with the blasts of water were knocked to the ground, and many were injured. Some attempted to hide behind telephone poles to escape the torrents. Most of the protestors, however, could find no place to hide and no escape from the fire hoses. Many were pinned against buildings or walls and took the blasts of water full force. The fire crews were relentless in using the hoses to punish the defenseless demonstrators. They employed the hoses as tools to control the crowds until the police could position themselves. When the hoses were cut off, the police moved in and arrested hundreds of demonstrators. Television news coverage of events such as the Birmingham civil-rights demonstrations galvanized support and evoked an outpouring of sympathy from Americans across the nation. |
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