WASHINGTON, DC — As the clock struck midnight near the steps of the Supreme Court, tensions rose and punches struck.
Protesters gathered near barricades set up outside the Supreme Court after a draft opinion leaked to Politico shows the court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Jason Jones, a Texas resident who is a pro-choice, told The Daily Beast he threw his hands away after pro-choice activists tried to put up anti-choice signs.
“I punched him,” Jones told The Daily Beast, “and then when I punched him, someone else punched me.”
“I knocked one out…and then another punched me,” he continued.
The dusting, which started at 12:35, only marked the beginning of a series of clashes between the groups. Forty-three Capitol Police officers moved in to form a police squad, 17 with riot gear in hand.
Leaked draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, labeled the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade “Too badly wrong from the start.”
Earlier on Monday night, the DC branch of the Social Democratic Party of America tweeted that they will “gather in the steps of the Supreme Court starting with MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.”
