
Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, left, talks about abortion-rights action with Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-New York, second from right, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, right, on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 in Washington.Â
Seventeen members of Congress, including Rep. Cori Bush of St. Louis, were arrested Tuesday during a protest in support of abortion rights on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. Capitol Police said they arrested 34 people, including the lawmakers because demonstrators were blocking traffic near the area.
“We have already given our standard three warnings,†police said. “Some of the demonstrators are refusing to get out of the street, so we are starting to make arrests.â€
Protesters were wearing specially-made green bandanas printed with the words “Won’t Back Down,†CNN reported. They marched from the Capitol to the Supreme Court, but were told to “cease and desist†by police within minutes of arriving, the outlet reported.
The protest was organized by CPD Action, an affiliate of the Center for Popular Democracy, the Detroit Free Press reported.
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In a series of tweets, Bush said she and her colleagues “put our bodies on the line — because we will leave no stone unturned in our fight for justice. … The Supreme Court will not stop us. Even though they arrested us, we won’t stop our organizing, agitating, and legislating for justice.â€
The Supreme Court will not stop us. Even though they arrested us, we won’t stop our organizing, agitating, and legislating for justice.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush)
We got us.
Ryan Hawkins, a spokesman for state Sen. Steve Roberts, in a statement called Bush “an exceptional activist,†but said Roberts believes Bush’s time would have been better spent supporting an initiative petition to “codify the provisions of Roe in the Missouri Constitution†than getting arrested. Roberts is challenging Bush in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary.
The office of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, who was among the lawmakers arrested, told the outlet that the members who were arrested were led away from the protest by Capitol Police and kept in a holding area outside the Capitol.
The office of Rep. Andy Levin, another Michigan Democrat, told the Free Press that the congressman’s charge sheet said he was arrested for the misdemeanor of “crowding, obstructing or incommoding,†the outlet reported.

First row from left, Reps. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., make their way to the Supreme Court for a sit-it in to protest the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Tuesday, July 19, 2022.Â
The demonstration took place several weeks after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling from 1973 that established that banning abortion violated an American’s constitutional right to privacy. The right to an abortion was protected until “approximately the end of the first trimester†of pregnancy, the court ruled.
The ruling was overturned on June 24, sparking national outcry and throwing abortion rights into limbo as each state moved to enforce its own policies on the procedure.
and her colleagues were just arrested standing up for our reproductive freedoms and right to abortion.
— Marina Chafa (@Marina_Chafa)
The complete list of lawmakers arrested, according to Axios and posts from their offices on social media, includes Reps. Bush; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York; Carolyn Maloney, D-New York; Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts; Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania; Nydia Velazquez, D-New York; Barbara Lee, D-California; Jackie Speier, D-California; Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts; Sara Jacobs, D-California; Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan; Andy Levin, D-Michigan; Alma Adams, D-North Carolina; Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-New Jersey; Veronica Escobar, D-Texas; Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois.
It’s expected that the lawmakers will be released and fined, Axios reported.