Crowds gather at Supreme Court to honor Ginsburg

WASHINGTON — The grounds of the Supreme Court bloomed into a memorial to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing thousands who came to honor and remember the trailblazing icon.

Mourners began arriving at the high court soon after news of her death came Friday evening, growing to a crowd of more than 1,000 who cried, sang and occasionally applauded. On Saturday, as the sun rose, dozens of people stood in silence as a flag flew at halfstaff.

And they kept coming by the hundreds. Bouquets, signs and chalk messages honoring Ginsburg multiplied by the minute. Joggers stopped mid-run, bikers paused and rested on their handlebars, and mothers from across the District of Columbia region brought their daughters to pay tribute to the pioneering liberal lawyer and advocate for equality. Even as lawmakers began to clash over when she would be replaced, the space outside the court was mostly one of quiet reflection.

“I wanted to be a lawyer but wasn’t sure I could do it,” said Blake Rogers, 13, who let a single tear fall down her face after positioning flowers Saturday morning. “And then I heard Justice Ginsburg speak, and she showed me that I could do it, that women and girls can do anything.”

Beth Feliciano, 39, squatted next to her 2-year-old daughter, Ellie, holding a book titled “I Look Up To … Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” She pointed to the court building and told Ellie, whom she had once dressed as Ginsburg for Halloween, that the late justice had worked there.

“We have been talking about Ruth ever since Ellie was born,” the graduate student said. “She’s someone good for Ellie to look up to as a superhero.”

Children gathered around a paper bag — labeled “Leave a Note for Ruth” — holding colored paper and markers inside. Shiloh Newton, an 11-yearold from McLean, began to draw a rainbow, meticulously tracing a red arc before pausing and looking at the flowers spread out in front of her. “The rainbow is for LGBTQ rights,” said her mom, Annie Couture, 42. “I knew it was essential to come here and show our kids the right thing, that they have to fight for the little guy.”

Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was among the mourners, showing up in a hoodie to offer quiet respects with her husband.

A few conservatives who fervently opposed Ginsburg’s

support for reproductive rights, gun restrictions and affirmative action also paid their respects.

“I disagree with everything she stood for, but she was a strong, stable, very professional justice,” said Paul Joseph, a 60-year-old pastor wearing a Trump 2020 mask. “That’s a big loss.”

The passing of the 87year-old judge immediately upended a fraught election season. Republicans offered condolences with calls to immediately fill her seat and solidify the court’s conservative majority for at least a generation. Democrats raged at the prospect of a president with a history of demeaning women replacing a trailblazing feminist icon.

President Donald Trump signaled he would quickly nominate a successor, and senators mobilized for the coming nomination battle.

But at the plaza outside the Supreme Court, there was a focus on grief and the impact Ginsburg had as a justice and a role model for so many.

Shortly before 11 a.m., two dozen people gathered in front of the court to say the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer of bereavement. After a 27-year tenure, Ginsburg died at the start of Rosh Hashanah as the longest-serving Jewish justice.

Those in the group put brown and tan stones, traditionally placed on graves, alongside the flowers and candles. They sang and prayed.

A few minutes later, Micah Blay, 11, puckered his lips and blew the shofar, a musical horn used to ring in Jewish new year, before the pillars of the Supreme Court.

“The timing of it, it’s a loud wake-up call for so many people. There was a hope she would continue to lead the way in the new year,” said Jessica Brodey, 47. “She broke down barriers, as a woman, a mother and a Jew.”

At one point, conservative provocateurs Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were arguing with a small crowd.

“Roe v. Wade is getting abolished,” Wohl said into a microphone as a man waved a cardboard “RIP

RBG” sign in Wohl’s face and television cameras gathered. “RBG is dead. We’re going to have a new justice next week.”

“Have some respect,” several mourners shouted. Others called Wohl a “fascist” or a “Nazi” and told him to leave.

After five tense minutes, he did.

The scene was once again solemn.