In the third march to Montgomery, which began on March 21, protesters were protected by federal troops and Alabama National Guard forces under federal command. They traveled the entire way, gathering more marchers along the route. A total of 25,000 people peacefully entered the city, the largest civil rights event in the city. In March 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his federal bill to support voting rights by authorizing federal oversight of local practices and enforcement by the federal government; it was passed by Congress as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After the act was passed, Jimmie Lee Jackson's grandfather Cager Lee, who had marched with him in February 1965 in Marion, registered and voted for the first time at the age of 84. In 2015 the Marion to Selma Connecting Trail was designated to connect the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail with the site of Jackson's death. Criminal charges against James Bonard Fowler A grand jury declined to indict Fowler in September 1965, identifying him only by his surname. In 2005, Fowler admitted in an interview with John Fleming of the Anniston Star that he had shot Jackson in 1965, saying that it was in self defense. As part of an effort to prosecute civil rights-era crimes, on May 10, 2007, 42 years after the crime, the recently elected District Attorney for Perry County charged Fowler on counts of first degree and second-degree murder for Jackson's death, and he surrendered to authorities. On November 15, 2010, Fowler pleaded guilty to manslaughter and apologized publicly for killing Jackson, expressing remorse. He said he had acted in self-defense. He was sentenced to six months in jail. Arguing that the sentence was too weak, Perry County commissioner Albert Turner, Jr., a civil rights leader, said the agreement was "a slap in the face of the people of this county". Because of health problems requiring surgery, Fowler was released after serving five months. Representation in other media In the 2014 drama film Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay, Jackson was portrayed by Lakeith Stanfield. The film depicts the events related to civil rights activities in the winter of 1965 in Selma and nearby jurisdictions, including Jackson's murder and the marches. Jimmie Lee Jackson was also portrayed by Zachary Rogers in the 1999 film Selma, Lord, Selma which tells the story of Bloody Sunday through the eyes of 11-year-old Sheyann Webb-Christburg, portrayed