On November 1, 1961, at the urging and with full support of Reagon and Sherrod, local black Albany students tested the Federal orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which ruled that "no bus facility, bus, or driver could deny access to its facilities based on race". The students obeyed local authorities and peacefully left the station after having been denied access to the white waiting room and threatened with arrest for having attempted to desegregate it. However, they immediately filed a complaint with the ICC for the bus terminal's refusal to comply with the ruling. In response to this, Albany Mayor Asa Kelley, the city commission, and Laurie Pritchett,police chief, formulated a plan to arrest anyone who tried to press for desegregation on charges of disturbing the peace.