Dozens cuffed in fiery protest
Scores of demonstrators were arrested for breaking through police barricades surrounding the US Capitol Saturday before the Senate voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Waving banners and chanting, “November is coming,” and, “We believe survivors,” the protesters ran up the steps of the main rotunda of the Russell Senate Building, then refused to budge.
Onlookers shouted, “Arrest sexual predators, not protesters,” and, “Shame, shame, shame!” as Capitol Police officers cuffed the protesters one by one.
About 150 were lined up on the street with their hands bound behind their backs with plastic ties.
They were among thousands of protesters who gathered throughout the day between the Capitol, which was surrounded by barricades, and the steps of the Supreme Court across the street.
Other protests popped up throughout the country, including a crowd of several hundred that gathered at Union Square Saturday evening after the vote. Boston, Chicago, Denver and Oakland also saw demonstrations.
Earlier in the day, President Trump sent out a tweet claiming the crowds of Kavanaugh critics were “paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs.”
Other Republican politicians voiced support for the demonstrators’ right to be there, if not the protesters’ tactics.
“Thank God that you’re willing to exercise your First Amendment rights of assembly and free speech,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee. “Keep it up, because it’s going to make America strong.”
Many of the protesters were resigned to the vote’s outcome but wanted to send a message anyway.
“I have been marching for women’s rights and liberal causes for 50 years, and it’s sometimes a bit discouraging to be here,” Barbara Sellars, 71, of Inwood, said outside the Capitol.
“But I don’t know what the alternative is. This is democ- racy. This is patriotism.”
She said the seemingly predetermined outcome of the vote was “a bit dispiriting,” adding, “Now the whole protection of women’s rights is really threatened.”
While the crowd was overwhelmingly anti-Kavanaugh, some supporters of the new justice joined the fray.
Sporting a “Reagan/Bush” T-shirt, Jim McCown, 60, fended off nasty comments from many in the crowd.
“I like him because of his 12 years on the federal court,” the Frederick, Md., resident said of Kavanaugh.
“Never a peep or anything, not a whisper about him,” McCown said. “Plus he believes in the Constitution. He’s a strict constitutionalist. That’s the reason. And I think he got a raw deal.”