Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Sheen arrested at climate change rally

11 January 2020

Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Sheen have been arrested at Jane Fonda's weekly climate change protest in Washington DC.

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin, 45, and Martin, 79, joined Jane at her protest in front of the US Capitol on Friday (10.01.20) for her weekly protest, known as Fire Drill Fridays, and marched up the steps of the US Capitol with a number of other protesters.

They were arrested after failing to disperse when police arrived and ordered them to leave.

Joaquin told the crowd: "The meat and dairy industry is the third leading cause of climate change.

"There is something that you can do today, right now and tomorrow by making your choice about what you consume."

Jane, 82, added: "The climate crisis makes our nation and all nations less secure."

Jane was first arrested for her actions back in October after she relocated to the US capital city temporarily, with her main goal being to get arrested during protests.

Jane was inspired by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who was "so traumatised" by the threat of climate change that she "stopped eating and speaking for almost a year".

When asked what moved her to protest, Jane said: "I read Naomi Klein's new book. It's called 'On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal'. [One of the things about the book that really changed my life] was the way she wrote about Greta. I mean, I knew about Greta, I didn't know she was on the spectrum. And I didn't really understand what Asperger's meant.

"When Naomi described it, I realised that here is this young person who ... she's not influenced by what other people think. ... On the spectrum, if they are interested in something, they have a laser focus on that and whatever the denials and rationalisations the rest of us indulge in, that doesn't come into play with her.

"And she read the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report and she realised that the crisis was barreling straight at us, like a train, and looked around and people weren't behaving appropriately. It so traumatised her that she stopped eating. I hadn't realised that she stopped eating and speaking for almost a year. And that really hit me."