Congregants at a Selma, Alabama church known for its role in the civil rights movement protested a speech by presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg on Sunday by standing up and turning their backs on the former New York City mayor.

H/T: Business Insider

“There’s a direct connection to the police brutality on Bloody Sunday and that brutality he presided over in NYC. So I thought he would lean into the moment, to really acknowledge it, take responsibility for it and atone for it,” congregant Ryan Haygood said. “And not only did he not do that, it was clear to me that he wasn’t even going to address the issue at all. And so I wrestled with it. So I felt like I had to do something to acknowledge that that’s not OK especially in this sacred space. This is a space that changed the world.”

'Not OK ... in this sacred space': Why protesters turned their backs on Bloomberg in Selma https://t.co/GXzviuletL — DeepClips (@DeepClips) March 2, 2020

WATCH: Members of a congregation turned their backs to Mike Bloomberg as he spoke at a church in Selma, AL. pic.twitter.com/60GkkDSgvO — The Hill (@thehill) March 2, 2020