Police in Arizona used tear gas to disperse a crowd of rioters who gathered outside the Capitol in downtown Phoenix on Friday to protest the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Arizona state senators were in the middle of voting on a series of bills when protesters “threatened to break the AZ Senate entryway glass,” state Senator Wendy Rogers, a Republican, tweeted.
Arizona State Senate pic.twitter.com/0acGnDf5Y4
— Michelle Ugenti-RITA (@MichelleUgenti) June 25, 2022
Rioters damaged multiple state Senate doors and memorials in Wesley Bolin Plaza, Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves told KTAR News. One person was arrested.
“While working inside we were interrupted by the sound of bangs and smell of tear gas,” Representative Sarah Liguori wrote in a tweet. “Protestors cleared from the Capitol.”
Arizona Senate Republicans called the rioting an attempted “insurrection.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Law Enforcement Prevents Insurrection of State Senate While Lawmakers Conduct the People's Work pic.twitter.com/jiWmAAYJJn
— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) June 25, 2022
Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend, a Republican, tweeted that lawmakers were “being held hostage inside the Senate building due to members of the public trying to breach our security.”
“We smell tear gas and the children of one of the members are in the office sobbing with fear,” she added.
Some 8,000 people gathered at the protest, which started at 7 p.m., according to KTAR News. Law enforcement declared the protest an unlawful assembly roughly two hours later, according to the report.
after the loud booms, likely fireworks, a majority of the crowd has dispersed, but a smaller, fierce group of hundreds remain chanting. pic.twitter.com/g0eKJltIJO
— Taylor Kinnerup (@TaylorKinnerup) June 25, 2022
Police in riot gear were protecting the front doors of the Senate building while senators finished their work from another room as tear gas and smoke began entered the Senate chambers.
“We are incredibly thankful for our local law enforcement who quickly intervened during what could have been a destructive and dangerous situation for our members, staff and public inside the Senate,” Senate President Karen Fann said in a statement.
The protest came after a 6-3 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, while the Court voted 5-4 to overturn Roe, returning the question of abortion to the states. The majority opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, says “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.”