Brett Kavanaugh Protests: Hundreds Arrested Rallying Swing Republican Senators Ahead Of Vote

More than 300 people were arrested after thousands gathered at Capitol Hill and held a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington D.C., on Thursday, protesting against the impending confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the highest judicial post of the nation.

The likelihood of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirming Kavanaugh nomination increased manifolds after a report released by the FBI and reviewed by both Democratic as well as Republican senators on Thursday revealed no evidence of the sexual assault accusations brought up against the SCOTUS nominee in the past few weeks.

However, lawmakers were divided on the findings of the report, which was pieced together after FBI investigated the allegations within a brief period of five days. While the GOP senators believed the report exonerated their nominated candidate for the Supreme Court from the allegations, the Democrats were adamant the investigation conducted was limited and hence incomplete.

As a last resort and ahead of the procedural vote scheduled by the Senate on Friday, the protesters marched from the federal courthouse to the Supreme Court and later to the Hart Senate Office Building atrium chanting slogans such as "Kavanaugh has got to go!" and “Susan Collins, we are your voters, Susan Collins, we are your voters!”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was one of five GOP lawmakers who are still undecided on the Kavanaugh confirmation vote and hence held the power to make or break the Republican majority during the voting process, that is, until the FBI report was released.

“It appears to be a very thorough investigation,” Collins said after reviewing the report, the Guardian reported.

Comedian Amy Schumer and model-actress Emily Ratajkowski were among the people who participated in the protests, organized by the Women’s March against Kavanaugh on Thursday. They were also among the two of 302 protesters who got arrested by the police.

The arrests began when protesters sat down on the atrium floor and on the fourth floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and refused to budge, USA Today reported.

After Schumer and Ratajkowski confirmed they were arrested during the protests, Daily Caller journalist Benny Johnson released footage of the two being asked by the police whether they wanted to get arrested and them answering in affirmation of the same.

“You're joking, right? ‘Arrested?’ I watched the cops walk up to you and ask politely if you wanted to be arrested. You & Amy Schumer said ‘yes.’ Then you both just sat comfortably on the floor until the cops gave you special wristbands & politely escorted you out,” Johnson tweeted before releasing the video evidence.

A different set of protesters also marched in front of the Trump Tower in New York.

As the protests were going on, a summary of the FBI report was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) – which a reporter for the Economist remarked could be fitted into a screenshot. It said “in the course of its investigation, the FBI decided to reach out to eleven people, ten of whom agreed to be interviewed. The FBI reached out to all witnesses with potential firsthand knowledge of the allegation.”

It concluded: “The Supplemental Background Investigation confirms what the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded after its investigation: there is no corroboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez.”