Jane Fonda has been arrested at a climate change protest in Washington D.C.
The 81-year-old actress was among 16 people arrested by police outside the US Capitol building in Washington D.C. on Friday (11.10.19), after she took part in a protest to call for action on climate change.
In a video posted to Twitter by WUSA9 White House reporter Mike Valerio, Jane can be seen being led away by police with her hands cable-tied behind her back.
Mike wrote in two tweets: "CAPITOL POLICE preparing to arrest @JaneFonda and co, protesting climate change inaction.@WUSA9 #ClimateChange #FireDrillFriday #breaking
".@Janefonda is the THIRD arrest here at the US Capitol… The moment it happened…@WUSA9 #ClimateChange #FireDrillFriday #breaking (sic)"
The ‘Gracie and Frankie’ star’s arrest comes after she recently said she was planning to relocate to the US capital city temporarily, with her main goal being to get arrested during a protest.
Jane was inspired by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who was "so traumatised" by the threat of climate change that she "stopped eating and speaking for almost a year".
When asked what moved her to protest, Jane said: "I read Naomi Klein’s new book. It’s called ‘On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal’. [One of the things about the book that really changed my life] was the way she wrote about Greta. I mean, I knew about Greta, I didn’t know she was on the spectrum. And I didn’t really understand what Asperger’s meant.
"When Naomi described it, I realised that here is this young person who … she’s not influenced by what other people think. … On the spectrum, if they are interested in something, they have a laser focus on that and whatever the denials and rationalisations the rest of us indulge in, that doesn’t come into play with her.
"And she read the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report and she realised that the crisis was barreling straight at us, like a train, and looked around and people weren’t behaving appropriately. It so traumatised her that she stopped eating. I hadn’t realised that she stopped eating and speaking for almost a year. And that really hit me."
Jane had planned to protest for four months in which she would hold weekly rallies in front of the Capitol building, but Friday’s rally in which she was arrested was the first one held.
Jane Fonda arrested at climate change protest
