SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Sixty-one years after state troopers attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, thousands gathered in the Alabama city this weekend amid new concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act.
The March 7, 1965, violence that became known as Bloody Sunday shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the landmark legislation that dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South.
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People march during the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Former U.S. Sec. Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Illinois Gov. Governor JB Pritzker speaks ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People march on the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Debbie Murray, of Edison, Ga., waits to march ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
FILE - Tear gas fills the air as state troopers, ordered by Gov. George Wallace, break up a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, March 7, 1965. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - State troopers hit protesters with billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, March 7, 1965. (AP Photo/File)
The anniversary was celebrated in this city that served as crucible for the voting rights movement, with events through the weekend ending with a commemorative march across the bridge Sunday. But the commemoration came as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could limit a provision of the Voting Rights Act that has helped ensure some congressional and local districts are drawn so minority voters have a chance to elect their candidate of choice.
“I’m concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated,” said Charles Mauldin, 78, one of the marchers beaten on Bloody Sunday.
Former and current Democratic officeholders, civil rights leaders and tourists descended on Selma to pay homage to the pivotal moment of the Civil Rights Movement and to issue calls to action. Speakers warned of the looming court decision and criticized the Trump administration's actions on immigration and efforts to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Standing at the pulpit of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, said that like the marchers on Bloody Sunday, they must press forward.
“Years after Bloody Sunday, the progress that stemmed from that sacrifice is now being rolled back right in our faces,” the governor said. Moore is the nation’s only Black governor currently in office.
“We are choosing this fight because those who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge deserve better than us cowering while the freedoms that we inherited and they fought for, are being ripped away,” Moore said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, speaking at a rally at the foot of the bridge, said racism is on the rise in America and “Trump's Supreme Court is gutting the Voting Rights Act.”
“Let's march forward today with the knowledge that we are the inheritors of the faith that brought marchers to the bridge 61 years ago. It is now on us to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice,” Pritzker said.
The annual commemoration in Selma is a mix of a civil rights remembrances, church services and a street festival filled with vendors and food trucks. It is also part political rally with an eye on November's midterm elections and a longer view to the 2028 presidential race.
The commemoration included a tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate who regularly attended the annual Selma march. He died on Feb. 17 at age 84.
Yusef Jackson said his father's legacy will be carried forward. “In November, we will go back to the polls and take our government back, setting our country on the right path,” Jackson said.
The looming court decision cast a shadow over the festivities. Justices are expected to rule soon on a Louisiana case about the role of race in drawing congressional districts. A ruling prohibiting or limiting that role could have sweeping consequences, potentially opening the door for Republican-controlled states to redistrict and roll back majority Black and Latino districts that tend to favor Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures won election in 2024 to an Alabama district that was redrawn by a federal court to give Black voters a greater voice. His district will likely be targeted if the state gets the opportunity to redraw lines. He said what happened in Selma and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act “was monumental in shaping what America looks like and how America is represented in Congress.”
In 1965, the Bloody Sunday marchers led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams walked in pairs across the Selma bridge headed toward the state capital of Montgomery. Mauldin, then 17, was part of the third pair behind Williams and Lewis.
At the apex of the bridge, they could see the sea of law enforcement officers, including some on horseback, waiting for them. But they kept going.
“It wasn’t that we didn’t have fear, it’s that we chose courage over fear,” Mauldin recalled.
A crowd of several thousand filed behind elected officials on this Sunday for the march across the bridge, this time protected by state law enforcement officers.
James and Dianne Reynolds drove from Montgomery for the annual commemoration. James Reynolds, 79, was a high school student in Selma and worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee helping to set up demonstrations in Selma. He said he sees echoes of the past in efforts to restrict voting, such as curtailing mail-in voting and absentee voting.
“When you look at what’s going on today, we’re still fighting for the right to vote," Reynolds said.
People march during the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Former U.S. Sec. Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Illinois Gov. Governor JB Pritzker speaks ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People march on the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Debbie Murray, of Edison, Ga., waits to march ahead of the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary march, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 61st Bloody Sunday Anniversary, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
FILE - Tear gas fills the air as state troopers, ordered by Gov. George Wallace, break up a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, March 7, 1965. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - State troopers hit protesters with billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., on Sunday, March 7, 1965. (AP Photo/File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia sharpened its warnings to Iran early Monday, telling Tehran it would be the “biggest loser” if it continues to attack Arab states.
The Saudi statement came after a new drone attack apparently targeted its massive Shaybah oil field.
The kingdom dismissed comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday that Iran had halted its attacks on Gulf Arab states.
“The kingdom affirms that the Iranian side has not implemented this statement in practice, neither during the Iranian president’s speech nor afterward,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Iran has continued its aggression based on flimsy pretexts devoid of any factual basis.”
It added the Iranian attacks mean “further escalation which will have grave impact on the relations, currently and in the future.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's slain supreme leader, has been named as the Islamic Republic's next ruler, authorities announced Monday, as Tehran widened its attacks across the Mideast to strike oil and water facilities crucial to its desert sheikdoms.
With Iran's theocracy under assault by the U.S. and Israel for more than a week, the country's Assembly of Experts chose as the next supreme leader a secretive, 56-year-old cleric who maintains close ties to the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Guard has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since the younger Khamenei's father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed Feb. 28 during the war's opening salvo.
The war has shaken global energy markets, pushing oil prices above $100 a barrel and leading to tighter supplies of natural gas after Qatar turned off its production.
The younger Khamenei, who had not been seen or heard from publicly since the war started, had long been considered a contender for the post. That was even before the Israeli strike killed his father, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.
There appeared to be some dissension over his selection. Political figures within Iran criticized the idea of handing over the supreme leader's title based on heredity and thereby creating a clerical version of the rule of the shah, who was toppled during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But top clerics in the Assembly of Experts likely wanted Khamenei to prosecute the war.
Khamenei, who is believed to hold views that are even more hard-line than his late father, now will be in charge of Iran's armed forces and any decision regarding Tehran's nuclear program.
While the country's key nuclear sites are in tatters after the United States bombed them during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, there's still highly enriched uranium in Iran that's a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Khamenei could choose to do what his father never did — pursue the bomb.
Israel has already described him as a potential target, while U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the idea of Khamenei taking power.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,” Trump has said. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump told ABC News on Sunday he wants a say in who comes to power once the war is over; a new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard issued a statement expressing support, as did the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani, speaking to Iranian state television, praised the Assembly of Experts for “courageously” convening even as airstrikes continued in Tehran. He said the younger Khamenei had been trained by his father and “can handle this situation.”
Oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight Israeli strikes.
In a sign of rising regional anger, the Arab League chief lashed out at Iran for its “reckless policy” of attacking neighbors, including ones that host U.S. forces.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said Monday it intercepted a drone attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field. A day earlier, the country said a military projectile fell onto a residential area and killed two people of Indian and Bangladeshi nationality.
The U.S. military said a service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1. Seven U.S. soldiers have now been killed.
Two US officials say the State Department will order nonessential personnel and families of all staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran escalates its attacks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. Eight other U.S. diplomatic missions have ordered all but key staff to leave: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and at least 11 in Israel, according to officials. Israel reported its first soldier deaths Sunday, saying two were killed in southern Lebanon, where its military is fighting Hezbollah.
Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online.
Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region and thousands of stranded travelers, raising new fears of catastrophic risks in parched desert nations.
The strike came after Iran claimed a U.S. airstrike damaged a desalination plant there. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had cut into the water supply to 30 villages.
He warned that in doing so “the U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.”
In response, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said that "U.S. forces do not target civilians – period.”
The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned Tehran residents to take precautions against toxic air pollution and the risk of acid rain from the oil depot attack. It also said about 10,000 civilian structures across the country had been damaged, including homes, schools and almost three dozen health facilities.
Lebanon said over a half-million people have been displaced in the week of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The actual number is likely higher. Lebanon’s count of 517,000 refers to those who registered on the government’s online portal. Israel over the past week has called on residents in dozens of villages across southern Lebanon and the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate.
In Beirut, sheltering families crammed into schools, slept in cars or in open areas near the Mediterranean Sea, where some burned firewood to keep warm.
Israel’s renewed offensive began last week after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel during the Iran war's opening days.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Chehayeb from Beirut and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press journalists Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Matthew Lee in Washington; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Aamer Madhani in Doral, Florida, contributed reporting.
FILE - Mojtaba, son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
A man carries shoes from his destroyed house that was hit by Israeli airstrikes hit several houses in Sir al-Gharbiyeh village south Lebanon, Sunday, March, 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Israeli security forces inspect a damaged apartment building struck by an Iranian missile in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Arileza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)
A woman walks past a cordoned-off area damaged during an airstrike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners gather in frontof the portraits of Hezbollah fighters who were killed by Israeli airstrikes during their funeral procession in Khreibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People stand on the wreckage of destroyed houses that were hit by Israeli airstrikes in Sir al-Gharbiyeh village south Lebanon, Sunday, March, 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike late Saturday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People take shelter as air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missiles in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Flames rise from an oil storage facility south of the capital Tehran as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rise as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People check the damage left by Israeli airstrikes late Friday, in the village of Nabi Chit, eastern Lebanon, Saturday, March 7, 2026, where Israeli forces landed overnight and dug a grave in a cemetery searching for Israeli co-pilot Ron Arad who was captured and then went missing after his fighter jet crashed over south Lebanon in 1986. (AP Photo/Ali Salem)
Flames rise from an oil storage facility south of the capital Tehran as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israel military campaign, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
