WASHINGTON DC: At least 59 people were arrested when police descended over a crowd who were rallying near the Supreme Court of the United States in solidarity with the sexual assault victim Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations on Thursday.
USA Today quoted the U.S. Capitol police as saying that 57 of the protesters were arrested for "unlawful demonstration activities'' and another two in the same location were arrested for crossing a police line.
The Women's March co-founder, Tamika Mallory was quoted as saying, "Foes of Kavanaugh wanted to make sure our voices are heard and our concerns are raised. And to make sure senators understand that while they may still vote to confirm him, we will not forget when it comes to the midterms and beyond."
Slogans of "Believe Women" or "I Believe" were chanted on the streets of Washington by the protestors who stood in solidarity with the victim. The supporters also raised the slogans "No means no, Kavanaugh has got to go."
Some protestors sported black t-shirts with 'Women for Kavanaugh" written on it, and others wore black and red shirts that read "Believe Women." Many of the supporters held up the signs reading, "I believe survivors. No on Kavanaugh," or wore buttons, "Confirm Kavanaugh" while others had black tape across their mouths that read, "Believe women."
Earlier this month, Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California, had alleged that Kavanaugh had assaulted her during a party in the 1980s when they were both in high school. She had accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes.
Kavanaugh, however, denied all the allegations during the testimony, saying that his reputation and that of his family has been "totally and permanently destroyed".