Jane Fonda Avoids Fifth Arrest While Protesting in D.C.

This week, the actress was joined by Ben & Jerry’s co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, among others, during her climate change demonstrations.

For the fifth straight week, Jane Fonda led a throng of climate change protestors in Washington, D.C. But unlike the previous instances, the actress avoided arrest.

According to reporter Ted Johnson, who was on the ground covering the protest — which began at the U.S. Capitol building and concluded at the gates of the White House — Fonda left early. "Jane Fonda has now left, but gave a big hug to Ben and Jerry before she did," he reported via Twitter. Speculation for the early departure revolved around Fonda being potentially slapped with a longer stay in jail after racking up a number of misdemeanors in a short amount of time. Last week, she spent the night in jail after her fourth arrest. She reportedly faced weeks this time around.

Fonda spoke about her night in jail and plans for her fifth week of demonstrations when speaking to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week. "I have to be careful not to get to a point where they're going to keep me for 90 days because I have to begin preparing for Grace and Frankie in January. So I'm not going to get arrested every time. They give you three warnings and so I will step away at the third warning," she said.

Reps for Fonda did not immediately respond to a request for more information and to verify the reasoning behind the actress' early departure. (Reps for the actress have declined to comment in the past, allowing the protest and arrests to speak for themselves.)

Fonda led her largest crowd yet of demonstrators, which included Ben & Jerry’s co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. It seems Fonda's march gained a number of followers on the way to the White House after a separate protest calling for the removal of President Donald Trump joined, according to reports.

Kind of an amazing moment as the Jane Fonda climate protestors moving downhill on Constitution Ave pass a group of much younger dreamers marching uphill. Lots of “wait, who are THEY” from both sides pic.twitter.com/N0EhfR5SYv — Hannah Jewell (@hcjewell) November 8, 2019

The rest of the group stayed on the scene after Fonda left, including Cohen and Greenfield, but it did not appear they were doing anything illegal. One video posted to social media even showed authorities greeting the famous ice-cream makers.

Previously, the actress was charged with crowding and obstructing or incommoding, which is a misdemeanor. She was arrested the first time Oct. 11.

Last week, Fonda was taken into custody by Capitol police along with actresses Rosanna Arquette and Catherine Keener, as well as a number of other demonstrators. In that instance, she spent the night in jail.

The week before that, she was joined by Ted Danson and before that, by her Frank and Gracie castmate Sam Waterston.

Fonda has made it clear that she intends to be at the Capitol every Friday ("Fire Drill Fridays," as she called them) with plans to be arrested in order to bring awareness to her cause.