Hundreds of protesters swarmed Capitol Hill, the steps of the Supreme Court, and the streets of Washington, DC, Saturday to express their opposition to the confirmation of new Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Unprecedented protests have already rocked Capitol Hill in the week leading up to Saturday's vote, when the Senate divided along near partisan lines to confirm Kavanaugh to the court. Kavanaugh was sworn in at the Supreme Court later Saturday night.
Protesters screamed "Shame!" multiple times during the confirmation vote, prompting Vice President Mike Pence to dispatch a sergeant-at-arms to make arrests.
As Democrat Joe Manchin voted for Kavanaugh a protester yelled “SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.”
The allegations against Kavanaugh have captivated and deeply divided the nation, particularly after the emotional testimony of Kavanaugh and California professor Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her while the two were in high school.
Two women who say they are survivors of sexual assault burst out after Joe Manchin votes yes, yelling "shame on you. How dare you prioritize him over us." Unlike other senators usually do, Manchin glances up to look them in the eye the whole time.
A Capitol Police spokesperson said that 164 protesters were arrested, 13 from the Senate galleries above where the confirmation vote took place.
Videos show dozens of people being taken into custody.
NEW: Capitol Police arrested dozens of demonstrators protesting against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in DC as the Senate is expected to vote on the contentious nomination later today. Stay with @ABC for complete coverage. https://t.co/iOj6v9woi2 https://t.co/dJncpSeTDE
Many chants and protests accused members of Congress of ignoring victims of sexual assault.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the sole Republican who voted "no" on Kavanaugh, said of the protesters at the hearing, "I don’t know what you were doing when those voices were shouting and the screams — and I’m sure tears — but I was closing my eyes and praying, praying for them, and praying for us, and praying for the country."
Traveling on Air Force One to a rally in Kansas, President Donald Trump told reporters the "screamers in Congress" were "phony" and "orchestrated." He tweeted that the crowd of protesters was small and that the media had exaggerated its size.
The crowd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is tiny, looks like about 200 people (& most are onlookers) - that wouldn’t even fill the first couple of rows of our Kansas Rally, or any of our Rallies for that matter! The Fake News Media tries to make it look sooo big, & it’s not!
Capitol Police did not provide an estimate of the crowd sizes.
More of the protest scene outside of the Supreme Court on Saturday, in the moments after Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to a lifetime appointment on the nation’s top court. https://t.co/ziFSfOppcD
Asked about his comment that it was a "scary time for young men in America" and about the large number of women protesting against Kavanaugh's confirmation, Trump claimed that "women were outraged at what happened to Brett Kavanaugh."
"You have a lot of women that are extremely happy. A tremendous number of women," he said, according to the White House pool. "Because they’re thinking of their sons, they’re thinking of their husbands and their brothers, their uncles, and others. And women are, I think, extremely happy."
Previously, Trump asserted without evidence that billionaire George Soros had paid people to protest against Kavanaugh, a claim he repeated to reporters on board Air Force One Saturday.
Following the Senate's vote, protesters occupied the steps of the Supreme Court, chanting "We believe survivors" and "Hey hey, ho ho, Kavanaugh has got to go." Officers blocked the doors to the court, facing off against the crowd.
Pretty wild scene as anti-Kavanaugh protesters push past a police line and are now at the doors of the Supreme Court --> https://t.co/nT4ettUSyM
At one point, protesters pushed past a police line to the door of the Supreme Court itself.
For many, the vote took on significance beyond the Supreme Court and served as an indicator of the nation's attitudes toward sexual assault and its consequences.
Older woman crying in photo: “How are we going to find the strength to keep fighting? Are we going to be out here for another 30 years? I don’t have 30 years left.” Younger woman taking her photo: “I’ll be here. I’ll keep fighting.” H/t @newscatmathis who shot Kavanaugh hearing https://t.co/iveKUEH7Sb
Protesters traveled to Washington from around the country.
Jo Macellaro, who came down on a bus from New York City early this morning to protest the Kavanaugh vote, told me that she’ll be leaving DC when they let her out of jail. She had not yet been arrested. https://t.co/Xz5ecnxh3j
And rallied in their home cities.
Today hundreds marched through the streets of #Seattle in protest of Brett Kavanaugh being voted into the Supreme Court https://t.co/TUSCIXMoJp
New York City's Union Square was packed with demonstrators.
Union Square protest against Kavanaugh
Protests also took place in Seattle, Oakland, Cleveland, and several other cities around the country.
Protesters opposing Justice Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court are moving through downtown Seattle chanting "our stories, our truth, we say me too." https://t.co/jVhds3Y1oV