Jay Reeves
Civil rights veteran Charles Avery sits on the deck of his home in Center Point, Ala., on Monday, May 3, 2021. Arrested during a demonstration in 1963, Avery said he supports today s protests against racial injustice and believes activists should continue despite the potential consequences of arrest and conviction. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) May 14, 2021 - 1:06 PM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) â Charles Avery had barely started marching when police arrested him, forced him into a police vehicle and took him to jail for participating in landmark civil rights protests that helped change the nation in 1963. He spent days in custody and then lived decades haunted by a conviction for the most innocuous of offenses â parading without a permit â that he saw as noble yet others questioned with suspicion.