Hollywood actress Jane Fonda calls out climate emergency in weekly Washington protest

  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

Hollywood actress and activist Jane Fonda continued her demonstrations in Washington, decrying a climate emergency.

Ms Fonda's weekly protests in the US capital often result in her arrest - a badge of honour for the activist, now in her 80s.

It harks back to a generation ago when she was being arrested for anti-war protests, when she further infuriated the establishment in 1972 after a visit to North Vietnam.

Her critics derisively nicknaming her 'Hanoi Jane’.

And Ms Fonda is still on the front line of America's protest movement.

On Friday she sat outside the White House hoping to be arrested once more - this time the police did not oblige.

But Jane Fonda is back where she wants to be - as America's Activist-in-Chief.

Jane Fonda was back protesting in Washington. Credit: AP

This week she was joined by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on the southeast lawn of the Capitol Building. Both are activists and the founders of "Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream".

"This is a climate emergency. That's why we are here to join the student climate strikers in their efforts to rouse more and more people to the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for activism on an unprecedented scale," said Fonda.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg and student protesters who proposed to strike for the climate on Fridays, the actress is spending four months in Washington DC to take part in multiple ‘Fire Drill Fridays’ to call for continued attention to climate change.

But while on stage, she also took aim at the Oval Office.

Jane Fonda took aim at the US President too. Credit: AP

She said: "Trump says he wants to end the endless wars, but if they're about war, he has no intention. If they're about oil, he has no intention of ending them.

“He betrayed our Kurdish allies, leaving them vulnerable to Turkish attacks, even while he sent our troops back into Syria to protect oil.

“The climate, the environment, millions of people and species are being killed because of oil. And in case you didn't know, the Pentagon is the biggest institutional user of fossil fuel in the world."

Jane Fonda has been arrested four times already. Credit: AP

Last Friday, Fonda spent a night in a local jail after her fourth arrest in as many weeks.

The 81-year-old Oscar winner was among more than 40 people arrested last week while sitting in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building.

A spokesman for Fire Drill Fridays, Ira Arlook, said Fonda was the only one who spent the night in jail.

The actress has said she plans to get arrested every Friday as she advocates for reducing the use of fossil fuels.