The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned an apparent effort by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to sell the building housing the historic Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery.
The museum, which until 1995 was the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station, is the site of an attack on participants in the 1961 Freedom Ride during the Civil Rights Movement. It is now listed as part of a nationwide DOGE effort to offer federally-owned buildings for sale.
In a statement, CAIR-Alabama Staff Attorney A. Britton O’Shields said:
“The potential sale of the Montgomery Bus Station and Freedom Riders Museum threatens the preservation of Alabama’s civil rights history and represents a total disregard for the sacrifices Freedom Riders and other activists made to desegregate the Jim Crow-era South.
“This news is particularly concerning amid the current crackdowns on campus anti-genocide protesters. Peaceful protest was once a cornerstone of our democracy, but it’s clear the current administration wants to quash dissenting voices and erase our rich history of civil disobedience and collective action.”
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CONTACT: A. Britton O’Shields, Staff Attorney – Alabama Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Alabama), aoshields@cair.com, 205-206-6399, 205-616-0733;CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com