Corrected 7:11 p.m. | The season finale of Jane Fonda’s weekly Fire Drill Fridays saw some passionate speeches, a mass arrest and her most star-studded lineup yet.
The Hollywood veteran turned out hundreds for her final rally, including celebrity pals such as former “West Wing” actor Martin Sheen, Joaquin Phoenix and Susan Sarandon.
Since Oct. 11, Fonda had invited her famous friends to the Capitol to get arrested in the name of the Green New Deal. Fonda herself has been arrested five times.
But where does the weekly climate change protest go from here? To California, with Fonda. The 82-year-old actress is soon resuming filming of her hit Netflix show “Grace and Frankie” and will no longer hold rallies on the Hill.
For her ultimate Washington appearance, Fonda brought out the big guns.
Martin Sheen, aka President Bartlet, delivered a rousing soliloquy so “West Wing”-esque I half expected to find Josh Lyman clapping on the side of the stage as a single tear streamed from his dimpled face. Sheen later joined the other protesters in being apprehended by Capitol police.
The next rally will be held Feb. 7 in Los Angeles as the movement heads west. Fonda is encouraging people around the country to start Fire Drill Fridays in their own communities by going to the Greenpeace website and learning how to organize.
That could prove difficult. Part of Fonda’s effectiveness was the star wattage and boldface names she could bring out to get arrested for civil disobedience. It might be hard for the average citizen to get Martin Sheen and Joaquin Phoenix out to their rally.
While the movement is packing up its wagon and rolling west, another organizer vowed that “when needed, we’ll be right back in Washington, D.C.”
