‘Grandma’s joining’: Fonda held for climate change stir
Washington: Oscar-winner Jane Fonda was arrested Friday outside the US Capitol where she was protesting climate change and demanding action to protect the environment.
The 81-year-old film star, longtime activist and exercise guru was taken into custody with several others after 10 minutes of protesting on the Capitol steps, video posted on Fonda's Facebook page showed.
"Today, the United States Capitol Police arrested 16 individuals for unlawfully demonstrating on the East Front of the US Capitol," a police spokeswoman said in a statement that did not identify those detained.
Fonda, dressed in a bright red overcoat, chanted climate action slogans before she was handcuffed and led away to cheers from fellow protesters.
The protest may become a familiar site on Capitol Hill.
Fonda recently told the Los Angeles Times that she was moving to Washington for four months, fully committed to fighting global warming with a passion similar to that of Swedish teenager and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Speaking to a small gathering before her arrest, Fonda decried the “manmade
crisis” of climate change and said she and other activists would be returning to Capitol Hill “every Friday at 11:00, rain or shine or snow or blizzard or whatever,” for a series of rallies.
"This is a collective crisis that demands collective action now," she said.
Climate change has emerged as a prominent issue in US politics, and several candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have released major and
ambitious climate action platforms.
She was charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding” and was released hours later.
Fonda is not new to activism and has previously praised children who are leading the fight against climate change, despite not being responsible for it. The day before her arrest she had said she wanted to join the protests because she was “inspired and emboldened by the incredible movement our youth have created”.
She told ABC, “(They) have really risked a lot and given up a lot in order to say: 'Wake up old people. How come you're not standing with us? You’ve taken our future away. “So, you know, grandma's joining.” She has praised teenage climate change activist Greta.
Fonda starred in movie classics like 9 to 5 and On Golden Pond, as well as the recent Netflix series Grace and Frankie.