AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, FileFILE – In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007, file photo, with the Capitol Dome in the background, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)
John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died. He was 80.
Lewis’ death was confirmed by a House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement Friday night.
John Lewis’s memory moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make “good trouble, necessary trouble.” May it be a comfort to his son John-Miles & his entire family that so many mourn their loss at this sad time. https://t.co/cPEn54Tpi6
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 18, 2020
“Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history: Congressman John Lewis, the Conscience of the Congress,” Pelosi said in a statement.
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“John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation – from the determination with which he met discrimination at lunch counters and on Freedom Rides, to the courage he showed as a young man facing down violence and death on Edmund Pettus Bridge, to the moral leadership he brought to the Congress for more than 30 years.”
“In the Congress, John Lewis was revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol. All of us were humbled to call Congressman Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing. May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Lewis was the last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
A scene from 2018, in which civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis danced along to Pharrell’s “Happy” at a rally for Stacey Abrams in Decatur, Georgia.
The long-serving and beloved congressman has passed away at age 80. https://t.co/UOBUhuv7oT pic.twitter.com/QcVp35zHkG
— ABC News (@ABC) July 18, 2020
He was best known for leading 600 protesters in the 1965 Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by state troopers.
Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights era whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died. https://t.co/PABvcp8tsw
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 18, 2020
Televised images forced the country’s attention on racial oppression.
A Democrat from Atlanta, he won his U.S. House seat in 1986.
John Lewis was a hero and an icon, and will be missed dearly. His legacy will live on. Rest In Peace.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) July 18, 2020
“John Lewis was a hero and an icon, and will be missed dearly. His legacy will live on,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw tweeted.
Tonight, the world grieves for the great John Lewis. In my 1st yr in the Senate, I had the privilege of traveling w/ John & much of the Congressional Black Caucus to Nelson Mandela’s funeral. The entire trip to Johannesburg, John regaled us w/ stories of being alongside Dr. King. pic.twitter.com/IKK6It3wvD
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 18, 2020
“Tonight, the world grieves for the great John Lewis,” Senator Ted Cruz said.
Lewis’ career in public service spanned for nearly 60 years. Our thoughts are with his family.
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