People flocked to the Supreme Court building to honor the memory of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an impromptu vigil

• People stood in a somber silence outside of the Supreme Court building in an impromptu vigil honoring the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
• Ginsburg died Friday evening due to complications from cancer. She was 87.
• Kalina Newman, who attended the vigil, told Business Insider that she knew she had to leave flowers at the SCOTUS building for Ginsburg as soon as she heard the news.
• “As soon as I saw the candles and the Supreme Court building, I began to cry. I laid my flowers, had a silent prayer, took some photos,” she said, adding that after she left the vigil around 9 p.m., the crowd had grown “considerably.”
• She was only the second woman and the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Friday marked the first night of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, and vigil attendees recited the traditional Mourner’s Kaddish to mourn Ginsburg.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Candles lit up the steps of the Supreme Court building in a somber glow as hundreds of people stood in silence to honor the memory of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ginsburg died Friday evening at her home in Washington, DC, due to complications from cancer, the Supreme Court announced in a statement Friday. She was 87.

People flocked to the Supreme Court building to host an impromptu vigil for the late Supreme Court justice, carrying flowers and signs with her iconic quotes.

Kalina Newman, who attended the vigil, was out to dinner with her boyfriend when she heard the news of Ginsburg’s passing.

“[I] immediately lost my appetite,” Newman told Business Insider. “I boxed up my food and turned to him and said, ‘I need to go place flowers for her.'”

“As soon as I saw the candles and the Supreme Court building, I began to cry. I laid my flowers, had a silent prayer, took some photos,” she said, adding that after she left the vigil around 9 p.m., the crowd had grown “considerably.”

Newman said she was inspired by Ginsburg in her own life, describing her as a “legend who made a name for herself by being smart, progressive, and fierce.”

“As a young woman passionate about progressive politics, she taught me to never take no for an answer,” she told Business Insider.

Ginsburg was nominated to the nation’s highest court by former Democratic President Bill Clinton in August of 1993.

She was only the second woman and the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Friday marked the first night of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, and vigil attendees recited the traditional Mourner’s Kaddish to mourn Ginsburg.

—Eliza Relman (@eliza_relman) September 19, 2020

Her death gives President Donald Trump a third opportunity to nominate a lifetime appointee to the nation’s highest court, securing a conservative majority for decades to come.

But just days before her death, Ginsburg dictated one of her last wishes to her granddaughter Clara Spera regarding who would fill her seat on the Supreme Court, according to NPR, which first reported the news of Ginsburg’s death.

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she said, according to the NPR report.

—Lauryn Gutierrez (@GutzyLo) September 19, 2020