73 arrested, charged amid protests at Kavanaugh hearings

close

Video

Kavanaugh faces senators, protesters at confirmation hearing

Senate Democrats urge delay of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing; Shannon Bream reports.

The U.S. Capitol Police on Wednesday arrested and charged three people with “unlawful demonstration activities” during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, bringing the total number to 73 since the beginning of his hearings.

Authorities arrested 70 on Tuesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The majority of those arrested were removed from the Committee room inside the Hart Senate Office Building.

Sixty-six people were charged with disorderly conduct, and six were charged with "crowding, obstructing or incommoding,” a statement obtained by Fox News, read.

One person was charged with resisting arrest.

The back two rows of the hearing room are reserved for the public. The Capitol Police can't close the room to the public.

Many of the protesters are part of a nationwide campaign to disrupt the confirmation process. They say they fear that Kavanaugh's confirmation would shift the Supreme Court's balance for years.

Senator Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., the judiciary panel's top Democrat, echoed the sentiment of the protesters.

“I think it’s really important that people—as well as the judge, the nominee—understand how strongly we feel and why we feel that way,” Feinstein said, according to The Journal. “Behind the noise is really a very sincere belief that it’s so important to keep in this country—which is multiethnic, multireligious, multieconomic—a court that really serves the people and serves this great democracy.”

In the week-long hearings, Kavanaugh's nomination is to succeed retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.