 A.G. Gaston , who was appalled at the idea of using children , was on the phone with white attorney David Vann trying to negotiate a resolution to the crisis . When Gaston looked out the window and saw the children being hit with high @-@ pressure water , he said , " Lawyer Vann , I can 't talk to you now or ever . My people are out there fighting for their lives and my freedom . I have to go help them " , and hung up the phone . Black parents and adults who were observing cheered the marching students , but when the hoses were turned on , bystanders began to throw rocks and bottles at the police . To disperse them , Connor ordered police to use German shepherd dogs to keep them in line . James Bevel wove in and out of the crowds warning them , " If any cops get hurt , we 're going to lose this fight . " At 3 p.m. , the protest was over . During a kind of truce , protesters went home . Police removed the barricades and re @-@ opened the streets to traffic . That evening King told worried parents in a crowd of a thousand , " Don 't worry about your children who are in jail . The eyes of the world are on Birmingham . We 're going on in spite of dogs and fire hoses . We 've gone too far to turn back . " 
