By Alexandra Mathew
Hundreds of people marched from Madison Square Park, to the Yale Club and Grand Central Station last night in protest of the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“They don’t get no peace, if we don’t get no justice,” they shouted as the members of the private club for Yale alumni and faculty shut their blinds.
The protest came in the wake of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh’s highly charged hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Despite Blasey Ford’s powerful testimony of being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh, the committee pushed through his nomination. But they have agreed to allow a one week long FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.
For the protesters at the Yale Club, this wasn’t enough.
“They’re just trying to ram the nomination through still,” said Susan Ryan, 48. “They’re pretending to appease the public and adhere to procedure, but in actuality this is a Republican interest agenda, it’s a corporate agenda. That’s all they care about.”
Many of the protesters shared their anger at how the treatment of Blasey Ford during the hearing was a direct example of how women are treated in America.
“We are being confronted with misogyny everywhere,” said Katie Cooney, 37. “Our radar for trouble is always on, we are always on guard and we see the direct psychological effects of how sexual assault ruins your life with Dr. Ford. We need to change the culture.”
The credibility of Blasey Ford’s statements 36 years after the alleged assault is what was most commonly called into question by Republicans during her hearing. But other sexual assault survivors said lapses in memory are common for survivors.
“She was 100 percent credible in her statement,” said Kathy Hayes, 44. “Being a survivor of sexual assault I remember what she remembers. I remember the laughter.”
Ryan expressed her anger at how sexual assault victims are left as the one’s suffering while their assailants never face repercussions for their actions.
“He thinks he’s entitled to this position,” said Ryan. “And it doesn’t matter what he did, it doesn’t matter that he lied under oath, their going to push him through. It just speaks so clearly to how we blame victims and don’t take their allegations seriously as a country.”
