Rep. John Lewis and Montgomery, Ala., Police Chief Kevin Murphy

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks on the phone after encountering a white mob protesting against the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., in May 1961.   (Express Newspapers / Getty Images)

National Guardsmen stand across the street from First Baptist Church in Montgomery at sunrise the night after a white mob descended on the church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had organized a meeting in support of the Freedom Riders.   (Horace Cort / Associated Press)

Mary Ellen Noone participates in an event at the Civil Rights Memorial center in Montgomery. She was among hundreds gathered at First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 1961 when it was attacked by a white mob.   (Mickey Welsh / Associated Press)

Former Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy joins Rep. John Lewis of Georgia in the congressman’s Capitol Hill office in July 2014.   (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)