Rights hero made US better place

He was a key figure in the US civil rights movement, often mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Martin Luther King Jr.

Flags in Atlanta have been lowered to half-mast “indefinitely” following the death of John Lewis, aged 80.

The Democratic Congressman was the youngest and last survivor of Big Six civil rights leaders who helped galvanise opposition to racial segregation in the US.

He was best known for leading 600 protesters in the 1965 Bloody Sunday march across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

At age 25 – walking at the head of the march with his hands tucked in the pockets of his coat – Mr Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by police.

His skull was fractured, and nationally televised images of the brutality forced the country’s attention on racial oppression.

Within days, Reverend King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson soon was pressing Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act.

The bill became law later that year, removing barriers that had barred black people from voting.

Mr Lewis turned to politics in 1981, when he was elected to the Atlanta City Council, then won his seat in Congress in 1986.

Mr Lewis was made the party’s senior deputy whip in 2006.

Mr Lewis said he had been arrested 40 times in the 1960s, five more as a congressman.

Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said words cannot describe the loss.

She added: “The people of Atlanta often called upon Congressman Lewis for counsel, guidance, and assistance with getting into good trouble.”

Arthur Blank, the owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, said the city lost two civil rights icons in a single day in Mr Lewis and the Rev CT Vivian, an early and important adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.

Rev Vivian died on Friday at the age of 95, and Mr Lewis died hours later.

Mr Blank said: “John risked his life to end legalised racial segregation and make America a better place for us and future generations.”

In a tweet, Mr Trump said: “Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing.”

Mr Lewis’s wife of four decades, Lillian Miles, died in 2012. They had one son, John Miles Lewis.

Democratic Congressman John Lewis