Buraydah witnessed the largest of the sit-ins, with dozens of women and children gathered. All of those gathered, in addition to about 100 men who joined the protest later, were arrested.

When 52 women and children were arrested on Tuesday 11 June in the afternoon, a sit-in was launched by dozens of men and women in front of "Al 'Atim" Mall in Buraydah. Security forces surrounded the protestors within 15 minutes and closed the roads. The agents began to beat the protesters with batons before arresting them and taking them to the police department in handcuffs. On the way, the soldiers shouted insults at them and tightened the cuffs, to inflict additional pain. At the police department, they remained in the bus that had brought them there from 5 pm until 3 am waiting to be brought to the detention centers. They were forbidden to pray on time and one of them was beaten whilst praying, on the accusation that he was taking too long.

Most of the protestors were arrested on Monday 10 June, the first day of the sit-in in Buraydah, Riyadh, and Mecca. In Ha'il, a city with a strong tribal society, members of tribes stood between security forces and the protestors. The security forces asked the protestors to leave, threatening to detain them if they didn't. The protestors refused, and as the men of the tribe stood between protestors and the security forces, they prevented any arrests being made and the women and children protesting returned to their homes safely. As for Al Jawf, the sit-in took place in a more isolated location, meaning that security forces did not crackdown on the protestors, who stayed for hours before returning to their homes.

The security forces' intervention in Mecca was violent: Protestors had their clothes torn off; an elderly woman named Umm Mansur, who suffers from reduced mobility, was handled violently by security officers trying to force her into a police car; another wife of a detainee, Hanin Al-Jaza'iri, had her hand broken and Sarah Faqih, who was going to be married on Thursday, 13 June, was arrested. Furthermore, security forces again arrested Namur Al-Jaza'iri, a 15 year old girl who had already spent two years in prison with her mother, Ms. Hanan Al-Samakri, and her sisters, aged at the time between 4 to 12 years old.

The womens' sit-in in Riyadh in front of the Investigation and Prosecution Commission led to the arrest of Dr. Badriyah Al-Rashudi and Mrs. Bahia Al-Rashudi, daughters of Shaykh Sulayman Al-Rashudi, as well as Hamidah Al-Ghamdi, Hanan Al-'Amirini, and Sarah and Saja Al-Samih. Also arrested were Abdallah Al-Samih, Sultan Al-Samih and their father Fahad Al-Samih, who was hit by a police car during the sit-in. Dr. Badriyah al-Rashudi and Fahad Al-Samih were both later released.

According to the detainees, they were subjected to a range of physical and psychological abuse and their food and water was deliberately contaminated by the prison guards. The prisoners were taken to the public prison in Buraydah and the Al Malaz Prison in Riyadh, where in both cases the security agents were ordered to beat them. During the investigations that followed, one of the detainees told the investigator that Saudi Arabia has ratified a charter for freedom of peaceful demonstration. He responded saying "that is true, but it's not for you."

A number of women, children and youths were released on 17 June. However, in Buraydah alone almost 80 people remain in detention, and their families remain without any information regarding their whereabouts. The authorities have not allowed any phone calls or visits. On 17 June, 12 of the detainees from the "freedom" sit-in in Al 'Atim went on a hunger strike in Dar Al Mulahathah. Shockingly, of those detained in Dar Al Mulahathah, 18 are children not over the age of 18.