At least 10 congressional Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined pro-abortion demonstrators Tuesday outside the Supreme Court less than a month after the justices overruled Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision.
Protesters blocked the street just outside the Supreme Court Building until police officers arrested and escorted the protesters away for obstructing traffic while calling for a return to abortion on demand.
As an officer held Ocasio-Cortez’s left arm while escorting her and another woman out of the street, the New York Democrat put both her hands behind her back, as if she had been handcuffed.
She briefly raised her right fist in the air before quickly lowering it and placing both wrists together behind her back again.
Ocasio-Cortez was the highest-profile detainee, but other members of the “squad” of younger female Democrats present included Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Other lawmakers also were arrested by police, the New York Post and other outlets reported.
Here is video from the scene Tuesday:
Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats have defended pro-abortion protesters who have marched and chanted outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, despite laws against doing so, ever since someone leaked a draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on May 2 to the news outlet Politico.
This report has been modified to clarify that Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers were arrested.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email [email protected] and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
