Actress Piper Perabo was one of 70 protesters arrested in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday by Capitol Hill police, she claims.
The Coyote Ugly and Covert Affairs star, 41, had been protesting the first day of hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when she was escorted out by police, according to a video she later tweeted.
“I was just arrested for civil disobedience in the Kavanaugh hearings,” Perabo wrote in her tweet. “Many citizens before me have fought for the equal rights of women. I can’t be silent when someone is nominated to the Supreme Court who would take our equal rights away.”
The clip Perabo tweeted showed her being removed from the hearing room while she and other women interrupted the proceedings to demand senators don’t vote to confirm the Trump-nominated judge.
Capitol Hill police and a rep for the actress did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Authorities said in a statement on Tuesday obtained by CNN that they had “responded to numerous incidents of unlawful demonstration activities within the Senate Office Buildings today that were associated with the first day of hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Of the 71 people arrested, 61 people were removed from one Senate office building and charged with disorderly conduct while nine more were pulled from another office building “for unlawful demonstration activities” and charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.”
Perabo, who has been outspoken on Twitter about her disapproval of Kavanaugh’s possible appointment, later tweeted a photo of herself with other women who had been protesting and were also allegedly arrested. She also included some of their handles.
“Proud to stand with them, and stand up for equal rights,” she wrote.
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually,” Perabo wrote on a selfie in front of a D.C. court building, quoting James A. Baldwin.
If approved by the Senate, Kavanaugh, 53, who currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would take the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy following his retirement from the bench.
The news of Kennedy’s retirement has stoked fears among Democrats, abortion rights activists and everyday citizens that Trump’s nominee could lead to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which legalized abortion across the United States.
Kavanaugh’s hearings resumed on Wednesday morning — as did Perabo’s tweeting.
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