The late Rep. John Lewis took his final trip across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, during his memorial service Sunday. The long-time congressman and civil rights leader nearly died on the bridge 55 years prior as a leader of the 1965 Selma march after being attacked with a club by police officers. The Georgia congressman’s July 17 death from pancreatic cancer has inspired renewed calls to rename the bridge after Lewis, despite his prior statements that he did not see the need to rename it. After crossing the rose petal-covered bridge, Lewis’ body continues on to the Alabama state Capitol in Montgomery, following the same route as the original 1965 march. A vigil is set to be held in the capitol in Lewis’ honor Sunday evening.
