The friends of Jane Fonda continue to join her in protest every Friday in the heart of Washington D.C., calling on the government to act on the Green New Deal, which deals with impending climate change and economic equality. As you’ve probably seen on Twitter in past weeks, these Fire Drill Fridays often result in Fonda, her celebrity friends, and other protesters getting arrested. This week, Joker star Joaquin Phoenix stood next to Fonda and spoke in support of the protest. Like many others before him, he was taken away by police.
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Phoenix, Fonda, and Martin Sheen spoke to the crowd on Friday about ending fossil fuel exploration and extraction, as well as calling for the immediate stop to oil companies receiving taxpayer subsidies. A Twitter account called Joaquin Phoenix Updates posted the video of Phoenix being arrested during the protest.
Joaquin Phoenix being led away at the capitol steps by the police at The Fire Drill Friday Protest today pic.twitter.com/oPkV5LWeA2
โ Joaquin Phoenix Updates (@DailyJoaquin) January 10, 2020
Phoenix is the latest in an ever-growing list of actors that have been arrested alongside Fonda since she began the protests in October. Ted Danson, Rosanna Arquette, Sally Field, and Sam Waterston have all been led away at one point or another over the course of the last few months.
For Phoenix, protests like this should be expected, as he’s been fighting for the environment and the rights of animals for years. The actor has been a vegan for some time and urged those at the protest to join him in the practice. Because of Phoenix’s involvement, and the buzz the Fire Drill Friday’s have gotten since they began, Friday’s protest was one of the largest to-date.
In early December, PETA named Phoenix its 2019 Person of the Year, for his work as an advocate for animal rights and his fight against animal cruelty.
“Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals’ plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.
There will likely be no long-term consequences for Phoenix stemming from this arrest.