SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 28, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — As the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the full Senate for a vote, a group of Utah activists began their protest outside Salt Lake City’s Federal Building.
They carried signs with messages including “We will not forget today,” and “Stop Kavanaugh” and “#Resist.” The group of two dozen or so women and a few men was small, but members were adamant about their need to protest after Thursday’s televised testimony of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh appeared angry and tearful as he refuted the earlier testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in 1982.
“If that’s what he’s like when he’s sober, he’s aggressive,” protester Charlotte Malony told Gephardt Daily as she stood in front of Utah’s Federal Building.
“The hearings yesterday were appalling and grotesque,” she said. “I came here to stand up for women.”
Protester Cherise Udell is a member of Moms Rising, a national organization that organizes mothers on political issues that are important to families, she said.
“Yesterday I was so frazzled emotionally listening to the testimony of Dr. Ford, and then seeing how abusive our elected officials were to her, it really riled me up and made me feel sick,” Udell said.
“It actually gave me heartburn, so today I felt like I needed to do something, and I figured that there are a lot of other people in our community that are feeling really angry, really frustrated, and that we needed to share tears and hugs among survivors and women, and also the men that support us.”
Udell said she believes that coming out to protest with other outraged people serves as a catharsis.
“We are not changing anybody’s mind by being here today, just this today, but when you see us collectively across the nation, that’s something to pay attention to.”
Udell said she has no luck trying to communicate her feelings with Utah Senator Orrin Hatch or his staff.
“His staff never picks up the phone,” she said. “But when you do this, you can send pictures. This is one of the only ways, to come out here and do this, then send pictures so he can see what’s happening.”
Udell believes America has become an oligarchy, with a few wealthy people controlling the government for their own benefit, at the expense of others, she said.
“We have a larger war that needs to be won here,” she said. “… So this is the resistance.”
Political strife has convinced many women to campaign for public office, she said.
“Women running for office is the next wave of the #MeToo movement,” she said. “It’s time to ‘drain the swamp’ and bring in women.”
