Jane Fonda arrested (again) at climate change protest — and Sam Waterston joined her
Jane Fonda's second "Fire Drill Friday" went according to plan — the Oscar-winning actress was arrested at the Capitol Building. Fonda, who was hauled in by police last week, is attempting to bring awareness to the climate crisis. Friday's protest focused on the Green New Deal. Fonda's Grace and Frankie co-star, Sam Waterston, was in attendance at Friday's demonstration and was arrested for the first time.
Sam Waterston - “We can do this! We need something to push for that’s as big as the problem.” #GreenNewDeal #firedrillfriday pic.twitter.com/dufkAq0UvR
— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) October 18, 2019
Sam Waterston getting arrested for the first time for a #GreenNewDeal #firedrillfriday pic.twitter.com/yRfvJagB9G
— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) October 18, 2019
"Today, the United States Capitol Police arrested 17 individuals for unlawfully demonstrating in the unit block of First Street, SE," a police spokesperson confirms to Yahoo Entertainment. All were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
Fonda, Waterston and the group of demonstrators were calling on lawmakers to adopt the Green New Deal.
"The Green New Deal is bold, expensive and far-reaching because we have to not only end our dependence on fossil fuel but on the exploitative, extractive mindset that has brought us to this point of unsustainable inequality. It’s not just nature that’s being destroyed, it’s our Democracy and the two crises are interconnected. One will not be solved without the other," said Fonda in a statement promoting the second #FireDrillFriday.
"A Green New Deal would make the investments in communities, public infrastructure and private industry to provide clean energy and create millions of high-wage jobs while protecting the workers and communities affected by this economic transition. It is the pathway to transform our economy responsibly and inclusively from unsustainable fossil fuel dependence to clean, renewable resources," the press release reads.
Fonda, who will turn 82 in December, moved to Washington, D.C. with the intention of getting arrested every week. After last Friday's inaugural arrest the actress declared it "a grand launch."
"The weather was perfect. All the speakers were wonderful, the press coverage was awesome. White plastic 'handcuffs' were put on each of us, we were taken to the nearby police station for a few hours. The plastic handcuffs hurt more than the metal ones and I discovered that it’s not easy for an 82-year-old to get in and out of a police paddy wagon without the use of her hands," Fonda recapped on her blog. (She had some experience with metal handcuffs in the ‘70s.) "All the policewomen and men were super polite and nice. There were about 16 of us all together, divided into 2 cells with the doors left open. We used the time, a few hours, to organize and plan. Then we each paid $50 (Fire Drill Friday provided the funds for those who didn’t have) and were released. We then walked to a nearby coffeehouse and debriefed."
"The idea came to me over Labor Day weekend in Big Sur," Fonda added. "I was with my pals Catherine Keener and Rosanna Arquette and I started reading Naomi Klein’s new book, On Fire: The {Burning} Case for a Green New Deal. Everything Naomi writes rocks my world but this one really brought home to me the urgency of our situation. The young, Swedish student, Greta Thunberg, who started the Friday School Strikes for Climate in front of the Swedish Parliament has said, 'This is a crisis. We must act as if our house is on fire… because it is.'"
Today's arrest is the second of her planned 14 — then Fonda has to report to set to shoot the final season of her and Waterston's hit Netflix show.
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