Seventeen Democratic members of Congress, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), were arrested during an abortion-rights demonstration outside the U.S. Supreme Court in July 2022, according to Capitol Police and contemporaneous news reports.
The arrests occurred July 19, 2022, weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion that had existed for nearly five decades.
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Omar, D-Minn., were among a group of lawmakers who marched from the Capitol toward the Supreme Court as part of a demonstration opposing the ruling.
Others arrested included Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Cori Bush of Missouri, Jackie Speier of California, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Andy Levin of Michigan, Alma Adams of North Carolina, Veronica Escobar of Texas and Carolyn Maloney of New York.
U.S. Capitol Police said demonstrators were blocking First Street NE near the Supreme Court.
Police issued three warnings before beginning arrests at approximately 1:20 p.m., according to contemporaneous reports.
By 1:35 p.m., the demonstration had been cleared. Authorities said 35 people were arrested for crowding, obstructing or incommoding, including 17 members of Congress.
CNN also reported at the time that police ordered protesters to leave the roadway before taking those who remained into custody.
Several lawmakers publicly discussed their arrests afterward.
Speier wrote that she was “proud” to have marched with fellow Democrats and been arrested while protesting for abortion rights.
Escobar said she had been taken into custody outside the Supreme Court while demonstrating in support of abortion access and reproductive freedom. Video shared from the demonstration showed lawmakers and protesters marching while chanting, “We won’t go back.”
Clark, who was then serving as assistant speaker of the House, said she participated because she opposed efforts to restrict abortion access.
“They can arrest me, but we won’t allow them to arrest freedom,” Clark said.
The demonstration followed the Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022, decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe and returned primary authority over abortion policy to individual states, per The Hill.
The arrests were part of a series of demonstrations held in Washington following the decision.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) had been arrested at a separate abortion-rights protest on Capitol grounds the previous month.
The July 19 arrests were civil-disobedience arrests connected to protesters blocking the roadway. The lawmakers were not accused in the cited reporting of violent conduct.
The incident occurred more than four years ago and should not be confused with a new round of arrests in 2026.
