Montgomery Bus Boycott: Bombings, Shootings, and Terror Against Boycotters

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott (December 1955 – December 1956), white supremacists bomb the homes of Martin Luther King Jr. and E.D. Nixon, fire shotguns into buses, shoot Rosa Parks's carpool driver, bomb four Black churches and the homes of two ministers. The city arrests and fines 89 Black leaders under an anti-boycott law. The economic impact on the bus system is severe: the bus line loses approximately 30,000-40,000 daily fares. The boycott reveals that nonviolent resistance is met with organized violence.