Across the US, activists, lawmakers, lawyers and regular citizens united in their fight against the nomination of accused sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court saw their hopes dashed and have reacted with anger.
As protesters chanted «vote them out» and «November is coming,» while demonstrating on Capitol Hill ahead of the Kavanaugh vote, the 53-year-old conservative judge was confirmed by the US Senate in a vote seen as a largely down party lines.
Even while Vice President Mike Pence ran down the details of the final tally, protesters inside of the Senate chamber could be heard shouting «Shame on you!» according to reports.
Opposing lawmakers on the Senate floor were unsparing in their remarks.
«The senate is about to elevate a nominee who doesn’t belong on the nation’s highest bench,» declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer prior to the vote.
Schumer noted that the newest Supreme Court justice was an «extreme partisan» who displayed an «injudicious demeanor,» and called for voters in the US to exercise their rights by removing lawmakers from office in the upcoming November midterm elections.
«Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box,» he said, cited by the Washington Post.
Kavanaugh has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, resulting in lengthy testimony against the judge and featuring a surprisingly acrimonious response from the nominee last week.
The newly-minted Supreme Court justice — who according to reports will be sworn in within hours — denies the many charges brought against him.