Reps. Clark, Pressley arrested outside Supreme Court at protest over abortion rights

Massachusetts U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley and over a dozen other House Democrats were arrested Tuesday for blocking traffic at a protest outside the Supreme Court criticizing the ruling last month that ended the constitutional right to an abortion for Americans.

"That's what we call good trouble," Clark's campaign account tweeted Tuesday afternoon, paraphrasing the late civil rights leader and former colleague John Lewis.

U.S. Capitol Police said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon its officers made a total of 34 arrests, including 16 member of Congress.

"It is against the law to block traffic, so officers are going to give our standard three warnings before they start making arrests," police tweeted at 1:18 p.m., adding minutes later that officers had begun making arrests to clear the road.

"Some of the demonstrators are refusing to get out of the street, so we are starting to make arrests," police account said.

At 1:35 p.m., Capitol Police officials tweeted that the demonstration was over.

Pressley's office also released a statement confirming her participation in the protest and subsequent arrest.

“Today, Congresswoman Pressley joined her colleagues and grassroots advocates for a non-violent civil disobedience to protest the Supreme Court’s cruel and callous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip away abortion rights for everyone who calls America home,” Pressley spokesperson Ricardo Sánchez said in the statement. “She, along with several of her colleagues, was arrested as part of the peaceful demonstration and is currently in custody of the U.S. Capitol Police. We will share more information as soon as it becomes available.”

Pressley later tweeted out a short video of her being escorted by an officer, writing "Abortion rights are human rights and I'm not letting up in this fight."

"They can arrest me, but we won’t allow them to arrest freedom," she wrote.

Clark and Pressley were released from police custody Tuesday. Both were ordered to pay fines.