Protesters shouted down Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) twice during his opening remarks Tuesday at the outset of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on his nomination to head President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Justice.
The disruptions came in quick succession after Sessions finished introducing several family members who accompanied him to the hearing. As he launched into his prepared opening testimony, two men stood and chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Police officers grabbed the two men from behind, briefly pulling them backward onto the ground before walking them out of the hearing room.
Sessions resumed reading his prepared remarks, only to be interrupted again a moment later by a woman who repeated the same chant before being similarly hauled out of the hearing room. She could be heard yelling about “motherfucking pigs” as police removed her.
The interruptions during Sessions’ own testimony followed an earlier outburst from a woman wearing a Code Pink shirt, who disrupted introductory remarks by Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Reporters in the hearing room also noted that Sessions was greeted upon arrival to the hearing by two protesters dressed in mock KKK garb.
Protesters pretending to be members of the KKK. They were just escorted out. pic.twitter.com/awvJd9q0SO
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 10, 2017