On October 6, as the Senate prepared to vote, about 100 demonstrators in downtown Columbus knew that Brett Kavanaugh would likely be confirmed as the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. But this did not dampen their determination to fight the right-wing agenda that Kavanaugh would bring to the nation’s highest court.

The protesters gathered outside the Ohio Supreme Court building were not satisfied with the FBI’s rushed, superficial investigation of sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others against Kavanaugh. “We believe Dr. Ford!” they shouted. “We believe Anita Hill!”

The FBI interviewed only nine people in their investigation of Kavanaugh. They did not interview 15 people who could have spoken about the sexual misconduct allegations, or ten others who could have spoken to whether Kavanaugh lied under oath about his drinking.

“No justice, no seat!” the crowd chanted.

‘The main reason why Kavanaugh has had to put up a fight to be appointed is because we’ve been out here in the streets to fight back,” said Dana White of Socialist Alternative. “If we want to stop Trump and Kavanaugh’s bigoted agenda, against their attacks on women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and immigrants, we’re going to have to keep building this movement.

“No matter what happens today, even if Kavanaugh wins the confirmation today, we know that a mass movement on the street can still defeat these attacks,” White said. “We won Roe v. Wade in 1973, when we had a reactionary Supreme Court and we had Nixon as president.”

“I have had an abortion,” said Jordan Close of NARAL Pro-Choice. “For me, this nomination means the overturning or gutting of Roe v. Wade. Kavanaugh does not care about us. I and countless other women, non-binary people, and trans folk are feeling the terror, especially in poorer communities, because the access isn’t there. It took me almost a month and a half to get my abortion, and I am very privileged in that. There are many people who are not that fortunate. Brett Kavanaugh, Trump, and his administration cannot be allowed to further chip away at the right of women and non-binary people to receive vital health care!”

“I am a 32-year-old mother of two,” said Courtney Lee. I celebrated by 21st birthday pregnant. And I wouldn’t change a damn thing about it, because that little girl is the best thing that ever happened to me. I got to make that choice. But because of the policies that they’re chipping away at right now, I was able to raise my daughter. I was able to finish school. I was able to make a life for myself. But now that beautiful girl has to watch the news, where someone who has been accused of sexual assault by a credible source. She has to hear people saying, ‘That was in the past. It doesn’t matter.’

“Policies helped me raise her,” Lee said. “But you know what really helped me? Dumb luck, and a shit-ton of privilege! For every little girl out there, you need to be out on the streets, knocking on doors, chaining yourself to desks!”

 “I am so angry,” said Rhiannon Childs of Planned Parenthood. “But I’m ready to fight back. Brett Kavanaugh might think that he has a pass today, but we’re coming to take what’s ours. This is our court, and these are our seats!

“I want to talk about the intersection I feel as a black woman,” Childs said. “We must not forget what this country has been founded upon: white supremacy, upheld by patriarchy. As a descendant of slaves, I feel the pain running through my veins every single day — their pain as they fought to keep their families together, to keep from being raped. We must not forget the shoulders of black women that we stand on.”

Childs has organized the Ohio Women’s March for the past two years. “I joined this work because not many black women feel accepted in the space of feminism, because our voices haven’t been heard,” she said. “But I realized that it was more important than just myself, so I decided to take a stand, because I experienced so much sexism in the classroom and the military.”

“Blame the system, not the victim!” the crowd shouted.

“What I keep hearing today is that we’re not just fighting Kavanaugh,” said Dana White. “We’re fighting against a racist, sexist system that forces us to live in a culture where sexual violence in the norm. So we’re going to keep on mobilizing in the streets and speaking out against racism, sexism, homophobia, and against this capitalist system. We’re going to grow this movement together, and we’re going to win!”