Jane Fonda Arrested While Protesting Climate Change At Capitol Building
She plans to protest every Friday for the next 14 weeks
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Police arrested Jane Fonda today on the steps of the United States Capitol, where she, along with dozens of other activists, protested climate change. A video published by WUSA9 show police escorting a handcuffed Fonda away from the demonstration, as climate activists cheer her on.
The 81-year-old actress previously told the Washington Post that she intended to demonstrate until arrested on the steps of the Capitol every Friday for the next 14 Fridays, until filming for the next season of her show, Grace and Frankie, begins.
.@Janefonda is the THIRD arrest here at the US Capitol… The moment it happened…@WUSA9 #ClimateChange #FireDrillFriday #breaking pic.twitter.com/wWoZggYloN
— Mike Valerio (@MikevWUSA) October 11, 2019
“I’m going to take my body, which is kind of famous and popular right now because of the [television] series and I’m going to go to D.C. and I’m going to have a rally every Friday,” the Academy Award-winning actress said to the Post. “It’ll be called ‘Fire Drill Friday.’ And we’re going to engage in civil disobedience and we’re going to get arrested every Friday.”
Fonda credits 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who gained widespread attention after initiating a school strike for climate change action last year, for inspiring her. “She realized what was happening and that this was barreling at us like an engine,” Fonda told the Post, referring to Thunberg. “It so traumatized her that she stopped speaking and eating. And when I read that it rocked me, because I knew that Greta had seen the truth. And the urgency came into my DNA the way it hadn’t before.”
For Fire Drill Fridays, Fonda has invited leaders from Black Lives Matter and the Sunrise Movement to join the demonstration, along with her fellow Hollywood celebrities like actors Ted Danson, Kyra Sedgwick, and Catherine Keener.
Of course, this is hardly Fonda’s first time protesting. The actress and activist has been engaging in political protests since the 1970s, when she famously led and participated in many anti-war protests and rallies. She has also protested to support the Black Panthers, the rights of Native Americans, and women’s equality over the years.
Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden speaking at an anti-war protest at the Capitol Building in 1970.
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“I feel far braver now than I did before,” she told the Post, “I’ve got nothing to lose and this is it.”
From Harper’s Bazaar U.S.