Jane Fonda arrested during climate change protest on Capitol steps

WASHINGTON — Police arrested activist and Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda on Friday afternoon during a climate change protest on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.

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Video obtained by WUSA showed Fonda, 81, wearing a bright red coat as an officer escorted her away from the Capitol.

Fonda told ABC News that she's moved temporarily to Washington to dedicate herself to the issue of climate change. She told The Washington Post she planned to stay in the capital until filming resumes for "Grace and Frankie," the Netflix drama in which she co-stars with Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterson and Martin Sheen.

"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," Fonda told The Washington 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 told ABC News she was inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who said January in a speech at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, "I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is."

She told the Post that after she learned how traumatized Thunberg became while studying climate change, "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."

"We have to be sure that the crisis that is climate change remains front and center like a ticking time bomb," Fonda told WUSA. "We don't have very much time, and it's really urgent."

Fonda has a long history of political activism. She traveled to Vietnam in 1972, where she was photographed with an anti-aircraft gun, earning her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." She has repeatedly apologized for the photo and to veterans of the Vietnam War. She has also been supportive of feminist causes and ensuring women's rights.

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