Eight activists commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” campaign finance decision by getting arrested at the court.
For seven of the activists, the charge was violating a federal law that prohibits “a harangue or oration, or utter[ing] loud, threatening, or abusive language in the Supreme Court Building.” The seven individuals, along with an eighth, were also charged with conspiracy related offenses.
According to accounts from those in the court, the activists stood up shortly after the justices began their 10 a.m. session. One by one, they began shouting slogans including “money out of politics” before Supreme Court Police officers took them into custody.
The activists were taken to the Capitol Police for processing and then transported to Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.
An activist group called 99Rise claimed credit for the incident, and posted a picture on the organization’s website purporting to show what the activists called the “Supreme Court 7.”
“99Rise is building a new nationwide movement waging nonviolent struggle to get big money out of American politics and reclaim democracy for the 99%,” the organization states.
Via Twitter, the group reported Wednesday afternoon that the “Supreme Court 7” would be held in D.C. Jail overnight. The disposition of the eighth individual arrested was not clear.
All told, the court’s public information officer Kathleen L. Arberg said, “the incident lasted a minute or two, and the court immediately resumed business.” The incident was not reflected in the transcripts of the morning’s oral argument, which had not yet begun.