jane fonda arrested
Jane Fonda, in red, was arrested outside the US Capitol.
Jane Fonda has been arrested at a climate change protest in Washington DC. The 81-year-old actress was detained on the steps of the US Capitol, handcuffed, and escorted into a police vehicle.

Fonda was one of 16 people arrested for unlawfully protesting, and was charged with "crowding, obstructing or incommoding". She was released hours later.

The double Oscar-winner recently moved to Washington to join regular protests after being inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

Before the protest, Fonda said: "I will be on the Capitol every Friday, rain or shine, inspired and emboldened by the incredible movement our youth have created.

"And we're going to engage in civil disobedience and we're going to get arrested every Friday." She said her protests over the next 14 Fridays would be called "Fire Drill Fridays."

Fonda was detained while protesting alongside a group called Oil Change International. In a speech before her arrest she called climate change "a collective crisis that demands collective action now."

Her best known films include Klute, Coming Home, and On Golden Pond. She has a long history of activism and, in the 1960s, was one of the main figures of the counterculture movement, and a high-profile opponent of the Vietnam War. In 1972, she went to North Vietnam and was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun, which led to the nickname "Hanoi Jane."

Fonda has since apologised to US veterans of the war. The actress said she felt less fear about protesting and getting arrested now that she is an octogenarian.

She said: "I feel far braver now than I did before. I've got nothing to lose and this is it."

Fonda intends to get arrested on her 82nd birthday, which is in December. Eva Malecki, spokeswoman for the Capitol police in Washington, said: "Today, the United States Capitol Police arrested 16 individuals for unlawfully demonstrating on the East Front of the US Capitol."