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Protesters arrested as Kavanaugh demonstrations pack Capitol Hill

Posted at 8:15 PM, Oct 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-04 20:48:32-04

Protesters were arrested at a US Senate building on Thursday as crowds of activists descended on Capitol Hill while lawmakers reviewed the FBI’s report on the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, though a more specific number of those arrested was not immediately known.

Protesters gathered in the Hart Senate Building atrium after US Capitol Police barricaded the front of the Capitol building.

The US Capitol Police did not immediately return CNN’s request for comment on the exact number of people arrested.

The Women’s March, a liberal organization that originated as a grassroots movement in opposition of President Donald Trump, was one of multiple groups tweeting from the protest at the Capitol building.

“The view from the floor where we’re being arrested for protesting the appointment of a sexual predator on our nation’s highest court,” one tweet said along with two images showing several people in the atrium.

Comedian Amy Schumer was seen being arrested, and model Emily Ratajkowski tweeted that she had also been arrested.

“Today I was arrested protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a man who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault,” Ratajkowski wrote. “Men who hurt women can no longer be placed in positions of power.”

Following Kavanaugh’s nomination and his initial hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christine Blasey Ford came forward with an allegation that Kavanaugh sexually and physically assaulted her while they were both at a party during their high school years more than three decades ago.

Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Kavanaugh and Ford both appeared before the committee last week, where lawmakers and a sex crimes prosecutor asked the two questions about the alleged incident.

The day after the hearing, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to ask Trump to call on the FBI to conduct another supplemental background investigation into the allegations.

Trump did so — and on Thursday, the Senate began reviewing the FBI’s results after receiving the report early that morning. Lawmakers are expected to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination in the coming days.