Chanting 'We believe survivors,' and 'Hey hey, ho ho, Kavanaugh has got to go!' activists marched from the Hart Senate office building to the Supreme Court where they held a rally to support Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor who accused him of sexual assault in 1982, when they were both high school students in Maryland.
She says he attacked her and tried to remove her clothing while he was drunk at a party when he was 17 years old and she was 15.
The allegations have put in jeopardy the conservative federal appeals court judge's chances of winning confirmation in a Senate narrowly controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, as activists say they believe Ford, who is set to testify Thursday, according to her lawyers.
"Women are to be believed, to be trusted. And we will always come out for each other because we have each other's backs," said organizer Bob Bland.
At the same time, a group of protesters filled the rotunda of the Russell Senate office building, where they chanted as they were detained and led away by police.
The protests come as the New Yorker published an article in which a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, described an instance of alleged sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh that dates to the 1983-84 academic year when both attended Yale University. Ramirez is cited by the New Yorker as saying Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken dormitory party.
Kavanaugh has denied the accusations by Ford and Ramirez.
On Monday, students at Yale law school held a protest, urging senators to listen to the allegations before deciding whether or not to support Kavanaugh's nomination.
"We're talking here about a cloud that will forever hang over this nominee and a stain on the Supreme Court itself unless there is a full, fair investigation. Whatever your views on Brett Kavanaugh," said Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a democrat, who joined the students.
President Donald Trump on Monday defended his nominee, while Republicans showed no sign of relenting in their push for his Senate confirmation.
"Judge Kavanaugh is an outstanding person. I am with him all the way," Trump said as he arrived in New York to attend the U.N. General assembly, calling the allegations against his nominee for a lifetime post on the top U.S. court politically motivated.
The Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has called on the panel's Republican chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley, to postpone Thursday's hearing in order to investigate Ramirez's accusations.
The controversy over Kavanaugh is unfolding just weeks before November 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are trying to take control of Congress from Trump's fellow Republicans, against a backdrop of the #MeToo movement fighting sexual harassment and assault.
Republicans, with a 51-49 Senate majority, can confirm Kavanaugh if they stay united. So far, no Republican senators have said they would vote against Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh's confirmation would cement conservative control of the Supreme Court and advance Trump's goal of moving the high court and the broader federal judiciary to the right. Republicans narrowly control the Senate.
Kavanaugh, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday (September 24) he will not withdraw his nominations because of "false and uncorroborated" sexual misconduct allegations against him.
"I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out," he wrote. "The last-minute character assassination will not succeed."
