Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajkowski among hundreds arrested after march in Washington against Brett Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault while a teenager, still seems set to win confirmation to a lifetime appointment on the US high court - causing thousands of women to march on the US capital
A sea of women marched on Washington on Thursday to urge senators not to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court judge in what has become one of the most polarising debates of Donald Trump’s presidency.
At least 302 people, including comedian Amy Schumer and model Emily Ratajkowski, were arrested during the protests for illegally taking their demonstration against Kavanaugh – who has been accused of attempted rape by university professor Christine Blasey Ford – into the Senate office buildings.
The vast majority of the arrests – 293 – came during a sit-in the Senate’s Hart Atrium. Another nine people were arrested for another demonstration on the fourth floor of the adjacent Dirksen Senate Office Building. Schumer, who had spoken earlier at an anti-Kavanaugh rally, is seen apparently being arrested in a Twitter video. Ratajkowski said on Twitter that she was also detained and arrested.
They were among thousands of women who travelled from across the United States to protest – and in some cases to meet with their representatives – in hope of preventing Kavanaugh, 53, from taking a lifetime appointment on the highest bench in the land.
A vote on Kavanaugh’s appointment is to be taken this weekend by the Republican-majority Senate, and his ascendancy to the Supreme Court looks likely.