70 Protesters Arrested At First Kavanaugh Hearing
Source: Roll Call
38 mins. ago, Katherine Tully-McManus.
The Capitol Police arrested 70 protesters Tuesday at the first day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Of the total, 61 were removed by Capitol Police from the Hart Office Building room where Senate Judiciary Committee members were giving opening statements for more than seven hours. Those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct.
The protesters, who represented a range of groups that want to defeat Kavanaugh's confirmation, stood and yelled at lawmakers during the panel's proceedings. They were led out of the hearing room by officers assembled and prepared for the unrest.
Many of the arrested were women representing the Women's March and Popular Democracy Action. "Brett Kavanaugh's nomination is a direct assault on women and we are fighting back," said Linda Sarsour of Women's March, who was just released in the late afternoon after being the first arrestee of the day.
"This country has a long history of men co-opting the bodies of those without power -- women, people of color, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ people, people with low incomes, and intersections of all these identities -- to make white men with wealth even more powerful," said Jennifer Epps-Addison of CPD Action in a statement. - End.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/70-protesters-arrested-at-first-kavanaugh-hearing/ar-BBMSB65?li=BBnb7Kzv
An additional 9 people were removed from the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building for "unlawful demonstration activities" and were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, according to Capitol Police spokesperson Eva Malecki.
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'I Came to Put My Body On the Line': Both Inside and Outside Hearing, Women Lead Fight Against Kavanaugh Confirmation. "Many citizens before me have fought for the equal rights of women. I can't be silent when someone is nominated to the Supreme Court who would take our equal rights away." By Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Sept. 4.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/04/i-came-put-my-body-line-both-inside-and-outside-hearing-women-lead-fight-against
- Protesters dressed in The Handmaid's Tale costume, protest outside the hearing room where Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 4, 2018.-
As Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh took his seat Tuesday before senators ready to scrutinize his stance on abortion, a group of women stood in silent protest outside the judge's confirmation hearing room, dressed in floor-length red gowns and white bonnets to reflect the Utopian threat of "The Handmaid's Tale."
"About 15 women lined the balconies overlooking the entrance to Senate office building. Their costumes, coupled with their silence, were meant to carry an ominous message from Margaret Atwood's novel-turned Hulu miniseries about a world devoid of basic human rights for women. The protest was organized by the liberal advocacy group Demand Justice, which strongly opposes Kavanaugh's confirmation because of his previous decisions on abortion and health care as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge.
"We are fighting Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination because he represents the greatest threat to the right to legal abortion since Roe was decided. Already in America, the right to abortion is under attack, putting access out of reach for far too many women, especially low-income women and women of color.."If the images of women in Handmaids costumes are striking, good, because this is serious. Women’s bodies, futures and lives are literally on the line," Lodes wrote. The "handmaids" costume is a recurring theme at protests of President Donald Trump & Vice President Mike Pence, who are both pro-life. Their concern is furthered by Trump's comments that he would nominate "pro-life justices" to the Supreme Court. - More.
More, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/handmaids-tale-protesters-target-kavanaugh/story?id=57592706
