Jane Fonda Arrested in Washington During Climate Change Protest
Jane Fonda has long been one of the most politically outspoken women in Hollywood, and on Friday, the 81-year-old actress proved she hasn’t lost a step. According to ABC, the Grace & Frankie actress was arrested on Friday for protesting climate change on Capitol Hill.
“We have to be sure that the crisis that is climate change remains front and center like a ticking time bomb,” Fonda reportedly said prior to her arrest. “We don’t have very much time, and it’s really urgent.”
In the days leading up to the protest, Fonda spoke with the Washington Post, and explained that Friday’s protest would be the first of many. “I’m going to take my body, which is kind of famous and popular right now because of the series and I’m going to go to D.C. and I’m going to have a rally every Friday,” she said. Fonda went so far as to predict her arrest, telling the Post that she planned on engaging in “civil disobedience,” on what she’s calling “Fire Drill Friday.”
She even invoked the name of teenage climate crusader Greta Thunberg, saying, “You don’t see it but I have armor around me. It’s invisible but it’s my special power like Greta and her Aspergers. I’m 82 years old. There’s nothing they can do. It doesn’t matter what they do.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Fonda challenged authority in the name of her political beliefs. In the 60s and 70s, she actively protested for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. Fonda famously traveled to North Vietnam to see firsthand the effects that the war was having on civilians, and criticized the soldiers who were doing the bidding of the U.S. government. During her visit to Vietnam, a controversial photo emerged of her posing in an anti-aircraft gun meant to take down U.S. planes—a move that led to her nickname, “Hanoi Jane,” and one that nearly derailed her career.
In 1988, Fonda apologized for her actions, telling Barbara Walters that she was “thoughtless and careless” at the time, and apologized to any veterans she may have hurt. “I will go to my grave regretting the photograph of me in an anti-aircraft gun, which looks like I was trying to shoot at American planes,” she said. “It hurt so many soldiers. It galvanized such hostility. It was the most horrible thing I could possibly have done. It was just thoughtless.”
Despite those feelings of remorse, it’s clear that if Fonda believes in a cause, she’s still not afraid to fight for it. And thank god for that.
