About 100 set out to retrace Selma-to-Montgomery march

People cross Edmund Pettus Bridge marching towards Montgomery, Monday, March 9, 2015, in Selma, Ala., to mark the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a civil rights march in which protesters were beaten, trampled and tear-gassed by police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. People cross Edmund Pettus Bridge marching towards Montgomery, Monday, March 9, 2015, in Selma, Ala., to mark the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a civil rights march in which protesters were beaten, trampled and tear-gassed by police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.

By Associated Press March 9, 2015 4 min read

SELMA, Ala. — Dozens of marchers set out across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge Monday with plans to walk to the Alabama Capitol, saying the voting rights won by blood in Selma 50 years ago are now under threat.

The marchers are recreating the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March of 1965. The 54-mile trek is recreated every five years, but organizers say this year is particularly important.

Marchers called for the restoration of the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act. The U.S Supreme Court in 2013, in a case also arising out of Alabama, struck down the formula that determined which states had to get permission from the Justice Department before changing voting laws.

“The heart of it has been taken out,” Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Charles Steele, 68, said. Steele said about 50 people will try to make the full walk to Montgomery.

Here are some stories from the current march: