Decades after protesters and KKK clash, Decatur citizens fight for justice [Video]

DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) – This month marks the 45th anniversary of a march in Decatur where people protested the conviction of Tommy Lee Hines.

Hines was arrested and accused of raping three white women in May 1978.  Just a few months later at his trial in Cullman, Hines was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference staged a march on May 26, 1979, to protest Hines’ conviction.

John Birdsong, now a pastor in Decatur, was 13 years old when he watched all of this unfold in front of city hall. He watched a violent clash between his community members and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

“It was chaotic, and it was racial tension, and every day we had to live it,” said Birdsong. “Whether you were in the stores, whether …