Civil rights activist, author and Princeton University professor Dr. Cornel West was arrested yesterday (October 16) while protesting on the steps of the Supreme Court.

According to cbsnews.com, the protest concerned corporate influence in politics.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman says 19 people were arrested Sunday afternoon after refusing to leave the court.

Ann Wilcox, attorney and legal adviser to the protesters, says that West was among those arrested at the Stop the Machine protest in Washington’s Freedom Plaza.

The protest had an anti-war and anti-corporate greed message.

Watch footage of the arrest below:

RELATED: Talib Kweli, Cornel West Headline Hip Hop Symposium