the marches from selma to montgomery, led president lyndon b. johnson to sign the voting rights act of 1965. the first march occurred on march 7, 1965 and became known as bloody sunday. between 500-600 civil rights protesters began the march on march 7 but were stopped by sheriff jim clark. the sheriff of dallas county (where selma is located) ordered that all white men over the age of 21 to report to the court house steps where he made them deputies and equipped them to counter the protesters. they were joined by state troopers and beat protesters so severely that 17 were hospitalized. they beat the protesters with night clubs, fired tear gas into the crowd, and charged them from horseback.