RFK Speaks Out on Civil Rights

Mar. 10, 1965 - Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) urged Federal court action today to stop the “wanton abuse of police power bordering on hooliganism” that has occurred in Alabama.

Kennedy, who was faced with many civil rights crises while he was Attorney General, said he hoped the courts would lift the order prohibiting protest marches after determining the rights of both sides.

“The events of the last few weeks in Selma are a sad setback to those — in Alabama and in the nation — who are attempting to solve difficult problems in the spirit of intelligence, good will, and adherence to the law,” Kennedy said. 

His brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) today called for “resolute Federal action” today in the Selma crisis.

“That kind of Federal action,” he said, “has been available in the past in Little Rock, Birmingham, in Mississippi — and I am confident after my conversations with the Attorney General [Nicholas Katzenbach] that it will be available in Selma.”

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