Gov. Kay Ivey has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff from Saturday until sunrise on Monday, following the death of civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis on Friday.
“As we prepare to lay Congressman Lewis to rest, we are honored to welcome him home to Alabama to sit overlooking Dexter Avenue, as he lies in state in the Alabama State Capitol,” Ivey said in a statement. “Let us remember the life and longstanding public service of Rep. Lewis. As a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, he is a proud son of Alabama. He dedicated his life to serving his community and advocating for others, during some of the most difficult times in our nation’s history.
“I join my fellow Alabamians and the nation in mourning the death of Congressman Lewis. I offer my heartfelt condolences and prayers to his family, his constituents in Georgia, and all who had the pleasure of calling him a friend. We are indebted to his profound service and will forever remember his heroism and his enduring legacy,” Ivey continued.
Lewis, a Pike County native, is to lie in repose at Troy University on Saturday, where his family will celebrate his life and legacy beginning at 10 a.m., with limited seating for the public to attend. The public may pay their respects to Lewis from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the university. Visitors will be required to wear face masks and practice social distancing.
On Saturday evening, there will be a service at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, where Lewis and other activists were taken after being beaten while crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965.
Lewis will cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge one last time, at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Montgomery Mayor Mayor Steven Reed announced a vigil for Lewis is to be held in Bicentennial Park at 7 p.m. Sunday. Reed’s office has asked that residents, wearing face masks and practicing social distancing, line the sidewalks of Dexter Avenue at 11:30 a.m. Sunday to honor Lewis as he passes.
Lewis is to lie in state at the Alabama State Capitol, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Sunday. Monday and Tuesday, Lewis will be at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., then will lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday, and is to be buried Thursday at South-View Cemetery.
