Yale Law School students gathered to protest Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination Monday, both in the halls of their own school and in Washington D.C., after two women accused Kavanaugh, an alumnus of Yale Law, of sexual misconduct.
More than 100 Yale Law students gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court in the rain, holding signs that read “Yale Law School students demand better” and “YLS students against Kavanaugh.”
Over 100 Yale Law students met on the steps of the Supreme Court to listen to survivors’ stories and protest the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh. #IBelieveChristine #IBelieveDeborah #DemandingBetter#StopKavanaugh #IStillBelieveAnitaHill pic.twitter.com/lfuVjE1vbs
— John Gonzalez (@johntweetswords) September 24, 2018
Students also protested at Senate office buildings, demanding an investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.
#YaleLawSchool students flooding Sasse's office & demanding investigation into allegations. Demanded an answer. Staffers could not make a statement. #StopKavanaugh #BelieveSurvivors #demandingbetter #metoo #IBelieveChristine #highered #democracy #yale #law #Kavanaugh pic.twitter.com/qU1NgyDjpT
— Dr. Emily Jane O'Dell (@emilyjodell) September 24, 2018
In New Haven, more than 200 gathered in the halls of the school in silent protest, all wearing black, where they were joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
“There’s no way the Senate can vote on Brett Kavanaugh without a full, fair and impartial investigation by a body like the FBI,” the senator reportedly told the crowd. “When senators say that she is mistaken or just mixed up…or talk about it being politically motivated… or the President casts doubt… that is why survivors don’t come forward, when this is the message coming from the leaders of the country.”
Around 200 people (estimate may change as counts come in) — mostly students, some faculty, librarians, and staff — wearing black and sitting in silence and solidarity in the halls of YLS. Another 100ish went to DC today. The school is only about 600 students total. pic.twitter.com/TEAkL77fJt
— Laurel Raymond (@RayOfLaurel) September 24, 2018
This is an incredibly well organized protest pic.twitter.com/DAScFa2ZVe
— Laurel Raymond (@RayOfLaurel) September 24, 2018
One student, Laurel Raymond, tweeted that even librarians who had to work Monday were wearing black. (Editor’s Note: Raymond is also a former ThinkProgress reporter.)
On Friday, a group of Yale Law librarians and library staff released a statement urging the Judiciary Committee to “conduct a fair and deliberate confirmation process.”
“Where, as here, a sexual assault has been alleged against an individual nominated for a lifetime appointment in a position of public trust, a partisan hearing alone cannot be the forum to determine the truth of the matter,” the open letter said. “Allegations of sexual assault require a neutral factfinder and an investigation that can ascertain facts fairly.”
Brave women are now sharing their stories in the YLS halls. One theme: having worked so incredibly hard to get here, it is so, so devastatingly demoralizing to realize how entrenched power structures still keep women and people of color on the outside, and make them unsafe
— Laurel Raymond (@RayOfLaurel) September 24, 2018
Last week, students also hung protest signs around the law school.
Yale Law School is a model of complicity. #IBelieveChristine #metoo pic.twitter.com/vGnPdLom50
— Dana Bolger (@danabolger) September 21, 2018
The protests against Kavanaugh come in the wake of two public allegations of sexual misconduct. On September 16, psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford told The Washington Post that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high school house party in the early 1980s, when the two were teenagers.
She claimed Kavanaugh forced himself on her, groped her over her clothes, and tried to pull off her clothing. When she tried to scream, he then covered her mouth with his hand.
“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” she said.
Just one week later, on Sunday, another woman came forward, telling The New Yorker that, at a party in college, Kavanaugh allegedly thrust his penis to her face against her wishes.
“Brett was laughing,” the woman, Deborah Ramirez, told the magazine. “I can still see his face, and his hips coming forward, like when you pull up your pants.”
Kavanaugh has denied both women’s claims.
The same day, lawyer Michael Avenatti said on Twitter that a woman he was representing had come to him “with credible information against Judge Kavanaugh and Mark Judge.” Judge is another student from Kavanaugh’s high school who Ford says was in the room when Kavanaugh assaulted her.
My client is not Deborah Ramirez.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 23, 2018
“We will be demanding the opportunity to present testimony to the committee and will likewise be demanding that Judge and others be subpoenaed to testify,” Avenatti tweeted. “The nomination must be withdrawn.”
Avenatti also represents Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who was paid off by the Trump campaign, ahead of the 2016 election, to remain quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.