Protesters outside City Hall Monday morning. (Bernice Corpuz/WBZ NewsRadio 1030)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Hours before Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake was scheduled to speak at a Forbes 30 Under 30 conference in Boston Monday, Mayor Marty Walsh and Sen. Ed Markey joined protesters calling for Flake to reject the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The protest was held by NARAL, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, survivors of sexual assault, and elected officials. Outside City Hall, crowds cheered the speakers and chanted "Kava-NO! Kava-NO!" Protesters were also planning to greet Sen. Flake outside St. Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he was set to speak Monday afternoon.
They cheered as Sen. Markey showed a thumbs down for Kavanaugh, and cheered again when Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka said, "We do not need two sexual predators on our Supreme Court."
Boston City Councilor and Democratic congressional nominee Ayanna Pressley called last week's congressoinal hearings on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's accusations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh "outrageous."
"Survivors are entitled to justice," she told the crowd. "Brett Kavanaugh is not entitled to a lifetime appointment."
Speaking to WBZ NewsRadio 1030 earlier Monday, Mayor Walsh said he thought there would be conversations today about Kavanaugh's background.
"Any time, I think, there's an allegation against anybody--particularly when somebody's going through the United States Supreme Court, this doesn't need to be rushed," he said. "This needs to be properly vetted."
It was Sen. Flake who requested the FBI investigation now underway as a condition for his vote to recommend the Kavanaugh nomination go to the full Senate. Walsh said the FBI investigation is a "good step," but is concerned about the fact that it is "limited in scope."
"If I did have an opportunity to talk to Sen. Flake, I would say to him, I would suggest that he think long and hard about his vote, and also about being on the right side of history," Walsh said. "And also about being on the right side of sexual abuse."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz (@BerniceWBZ) reports