An exploding fuel tank and warning shots from arriving state troopers forced the rabble back and allowed the riders to escape ... petition from U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to spur the ...

Kennedy in the Oval Office with his brother, Attorney General Robert F ... still lacking basic freedoms and civil rights. The Freedom Rides did not come at a convenient time for the administration.

When reporters asked Abernathy to respond to Robert ... that the Freedom Riders were embarrassing the United States in front of the world, Abernathy responded, "Well, doesn't the Attorney General ...