“[#otd 1961] The nine Freedom Riders and five regular passengers sat frozen to their seats as the mob shouted for the Freedom Riders to come out. Some tried to force open the door. this brought the two Alabama state investigators out from undercover – they ran to the front of the bus and braced themselves against the pull lever, holding the door shut. Enraged, the [white] mob began pounding on the bus with pipes and slashing the tires …. [The driver] revved the engine and backed up. The numb, terror stricken passengers, watched Anniston policemen move in from positions on the fringe of the crowd to direct the bus out of town, as though they had suddenly awaken to a traffic problem.”

— Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters (1988)

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