The building had a door labelled "Colored Entrance"; African Americans entered through it directly into the bus bay, accessing interior of the segregated terminal from the rear.

Alabama stops were planned for Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery, during the final leg that ran from Atlanta, Georgia to New Orleans.

[6][7] In Anniston, a mob of angry whites violently attacked the Greyhound bus and set it on fire; the riders were severely beaten.

The Trailways bus arrived an hour later and was boarded in Anniston by Ku Klux Klan members who beat up the Freedom Riders.

Reports of the violence reached U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who urged restraint on the part of Freedom Riders and sent an assistant, John Seigenthaler, to Birmingham.

[8] The riders were left unescorted by the state troopers as they reached Montgomery city limits, and arrived at the bus station at 10:23 AM.

Several were injured in the attack, including Robert Kennedy's assistant John Seigenthaler, who had followed the bus in his car: attempting to rescue two white female riders, he was hit over the head with a metal pipe and "lay unconscious on the ground for half an hour.

"[8] Floyd Mann, who had stationed his troopers a few blocks away despite lacking jurisdiction, stepped in to protect William Barbee, who was to remain paralyzed and died an early death as a result of his beating.

A white attacker raised his bat for a final blow" at an unconscious Jim Zwerg who was accompanied by John Lewis.

[13] The marshals, with the help of Floyd Mann and his state troopers, managed to keep the mob at bay;[8] it was finally dispersed with the help of the National Guard at midnight.

[21] The station fell into disrepair, and plans to open a museum were delayed repeatedly, leading to accusations of racial prejudice against the Alabama Historical Commission.

[25] Previous owners had covered the original segregated entrance with bricks and torn down a sign indicating where non-whites were supposed to enter.