Apr. 25, 1963 - Fifty state troopers armed with nightsticks, other state policemen in plain clothes, two dozen FBI agents, and a detachment of city policemen maintained a guard in and around the Alabama Capitol this morning in advance of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s meeting with Governor George Wallace, a strict segregationist. The Attorney General hopes to avert a school desegregation crisis at the University of Alabama similar to one which erupted into deadly rioting last fall at the University of Mississippi after the enrollment of James Meredith, a Negro. Eighteen white pickets were arrested by the Montgomery police in front of the Capitol shortly before Mr. Kennedy arrived. The placards they carried bore such messages as “Mississippi Murderer” and “No Kennedy Congo Here.” Rear Admiral John G. Crommelin, retired, stood on a nearby sidewalk but did not participate in the demonstration. “It’s a felony to violate the rights of people,” declared the former Navy officer,. Mr. Crommelin is an avowed anti-Semite who is active in segregationist circles in Alabama.
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