(Photo by Kyle O’Leary)

(Photo by Kyle O’Leary)

Update: A statement from Capitol Police says the agency charged approximately 575 people with unlawfully demonstrating in the atrium of the Hart Senate Building.

They are being processed on the scene and then released.

Original: Hundreds of women marched two miles down Pennsylvania Avenue to protest the Trump Administration’s family detention and separation policies, and demand the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The walk ended in the Hart Senate building, where hundreds risk arrest in an act of civil disobedience and Capitol Police has begun arresting them.

Women’s March organizers were involved in today’s action, along with local D.C. advocacy groups. The rally started in Freedom Plaza at around 11 a.m and proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue until participants reached the Capitol.

Once they reached the building, women sat on the ground and waited to be carted off. Police began arresting them in groups.

The actress Susan Sarandon made an appearance at the march, and she was arrested in the second group of protesters in the Hart Building, where 50 senators have their offices, according to Washington Post reporter Marissa Lang.

Protesters wore space blankets on the floor of the building, calling to mind the blankets used in shelters that house immigrant children.

Along the way to the Capitol, women chanted and sang together. Many of them had “We care” written on the inside of their hands, a response to Melania Trump’s infamous jacket. Outside the Department of Justice building, the women shut down 10th Street to shout “We care.” Check out local reporter Alejandro Alvarez’s Twitter account for a detailed blow-by-blow of the march and the action once protesters got to the Hart Building.

As women protested downstairs, senators began coming down to shake their hands and say thank you.

Filed Under: capitol, women's march,