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Angry liberal Democrats carrying “Black Lives Matter, “Wanted” and “Revolution” signs showed up outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home in Louisville, Kentucky this Saturday to protest.
They were upset over his decision to abide by hundreds of years of established Senate precedent and move forward with nominating and confirming a Supreme Court justice during an election year.
“I’m disgusted that Senator McConnell would treat this opportunity in a complete different manner than he treated the opportunity when there was a vacancy when Obama was nine or 10 months away from the election,” one of the protesters, Laura Johnsrude, said to Kentucky’s largest newspaper, The Courier-Journal.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
But the American people already had their voices heard. They handed the Senate back to the Republicans during the 2014 midterms, thus granting McConnell the authority to vote against then-Democrat President Barack Hussein Obama’s SCOTUS pick after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death two years later.
Likewise, the American people kept the Senate in the hands of the Republicans during the 2018 midterms, thus granting McConnell the authority to now vote in favor of President Donald Trump’s expected SCOTUS pick following the death Friday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
This is how the system works …
Watch a live-stream from the protest below:
Protest outside Mitch McConnell’s home in Louisville in response to his comments on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death
Posted by Courier Journal on Saturday, September 19, 2020
The protest reportedly began around noon. The authorities arrived shortly before 1:00 pm and asked the protesters to stay off the street to keep traffic clear. But instead of complying, the protesters purposefully chose to defy them.
“[A]t the presence of police, some demonstrators began encouraging others to stand in the road, while others argued that the group should continue spreading out along the sidewalk,” the Courier-Journal reported.
“Police eventually moved to the edges of the demonstration and blocked traffic near the intersection of Yale Drive and Dundee Road, stating that vehicles driving down a hill may not spot protesters in the roadway before it was too late.”
By 1:15 pm, “heated discussions” between protesters and the police broke out, with the protesters “saying they had a right to remain in the street as long as traffic could still pass safely.” This prompted the police to declare the protest an unlawful assembly.
In response, one of the protesters tried to lecture the authorities about so-called “deescalation.”
Watch:
Conversation between protesters and police officers outside of Mitch McConnell’s house. pic.twitter.com/R9ZNSZ2mer
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 19, 2020
It’s not clear how any officer, regardless of their level of training, is supposed to “deescalate” a situation where a crowd of protesters simply refuses to abide by the rules.
Around 2:15 pm, local authorities nevertheless apparently succeeded in convincing the protesters to stay off the roads, and so with safety not being an issue anymore, they unblocked traffic near the intersection of Yale Drive and Dundee Road.
Only 30 minutes later, however, they performed their first arrest.
Look:
One woman has been arrested at the CVS one block from McConnell’s house. She parked at the CVS, but was not a customer, and police told her they would tow her car. She tried to buy something and then move her car, but police didn’t allow that.
Here’s an officer: pic.twitter.com/LfDHy6gIeE
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 19, 2020
The woman is being transported to jail. pic.twitter.com/xwQtGnXdU0
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 19, 2020
The arrest angered the protesters.
“Following the arrest, several protesters entered the CVS, where they chanted in the store. One kicked a glass door, damaging it,” the Courier-Journal reported.
“Officers entered the store and asked everyone who was not shopping to leave. Shortly after, members of LMPD’s special response team arrived to clear the scene.”
The protest formally concluded about an hour later.
According to reports, the protesters plan to return to McConnell’s home every day until the conclusion of this year’s presidential election:
RBG’s Righteous Posse plans to hold a vigil at the DC home of Mitch McConnell every day until Nov. 3rd at 217 C St. NE in Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/IC7fAnpbPk
— Deacon Maccubbin (@DeaconMacWins) September 19, 2020
It’s unlikely these protests will have any bearing on how McConnell proceeds. Records show that at least a dozen justices have been confirmed during an election year, starting with Justice Oliver Ellsworth, who was confirmed as early as 1796:
CORRECTED: 17 Supreme Court Justices confirmed by Senate during presidential election year (- Jay in original list) pic.twitter.com/W0EhMP1LIm
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) February 14, 2016
Protesters may however succeed in convincing more weak-willed “Republican” senators such as Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to vote against confirming the president’s nominee.
In fact, some of these “Republicans” have already bent the knee:
My statement on the Supreme Court vacancy: pic.twitter.com/jvYyDN5gG4
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) September 19, 2020
But given as some of these “Republicans,” including Collins, are up for reelection this year, they could conceivably change their mind if their poll numbers plummet.
As it stands, Collins is already on her last political legs, though a confirmation vote on the president’s nominee could spur the type of groundswell of support from the GOP base needed for her to reign triumphant this year.
Colby College poll:
Maine Senate
Sara Gideon (D) 44%
Susan Collins (R) 39%— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 29, 2020
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