On May 4, 1961, a Greyhound bus with 13 civil rights activists aboard left Washington, D.C.; on May 20, in Jackson, Mississippi, the so-called “Freedom Riders” were attacked by a white mob. Wikipedia says (here) that “southern … police considered the actions of the Freedom Riders to be criminal and arrested them in some locations.” In other places, “the police cooperated with Ku Klux Klan chapters and … allowed mobs to attack the riders.”
Ultimately, there were dozens more Freedom Rides throughout the summer, fall, and into the winter of 1961, in which more than 400 volunteers participated; Oprah Winfrey reunited 178 of them on her TV show on the 50th anniversary in 2011 (video clip below).
The restored Greyhound bus above, “in service during the Freedom Rides,” will become an exhibit at the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. Read story here.