Arizona legislators were required to complete their ballots in a different and more secure area of the State capitol.
Tear gas was used by police in Phoenix, Arizona, to disperse a large gathering of protesters who had gathered outside the state Senate building in response to the decision of the Supreme Court to reverse the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.
During the time that members of the Arizona Senate were voting on several different proposals, Republican State Senator Wendy Rogers of Arizona tweeted that protesters had threatened to break the glass of the Arizona Senate doorway.
After being instructed to remain in the building, Republican Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend referred to the predicament as a “hostage situation.”
On Friday night, Townsend tweeted, “We are currently being kept prisoner within the Senate building owing to members of the public attempting to break through our security.” This was in response to attempts by members of the public to breach the Senate’s security. “The children of one of the members are here in the office and they are shrieking in fear because we can smell tear gas,” she said.
