Hundreds of demonstrators are arrested by Sheriff Jim Clark. In Marion, near Selma, protester Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot dead by a state trooper. February 21 Malcolm X is assassinated by Black Muslim hitmen at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. The nation is outraged by photographs and film of the attack. Washington responds by expediting voting rights legislation.
King calls for clergymen from across the nation to join a second march.
Rev. James Reeb is clubbed to death. Under the protection of a federalized National Guard, the Selma to Montgomery march proceeds to the state capitol, where a rally of 50,000 people is held. August 6 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is signed into law. It bans voter examinations and provides for federal registrars to be sent to recalcitrant counties. It prompts a huge rise in black registration.