Advertisement

George Clooney and dad arrested while protesting Sudan violence

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Leave it to George Clooney to skip the typical celebrity bad-behavior arrest -- the actor and his father, Nick, were arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Friday while participating in a protest against violence in south Sudan.

It’s been a very full week for the younger Clooney, who returned from the region Tuesday, testified before Congress on Wednesday as to the ‘constant drip of fear’ in south Sudan before swinging by the White House State Dinner for Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, then hit the White House on Thursday to urge President Obama to push China to help get relief efforts to the people in south Sudan.

Advertisement

‘We found children filled with shrapnel, including a 9-year-old boy who had both hands blown off,’ he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, according to CNN, referring to Sudanese government officials who have been charged with war crimes as the ‘greatest war criminals of this century by far.’

“What is most striking and most devastating is the absolute vulnerability of a certain group of people,” Clooney said Thursday outside the White House, according to the Washington Post.

Getting arrested by the Secret Service, which protects embassies in D.C., might’ve seemed like a break -- at least he didn’t have to dress up.

Before the arrest, he and the other protesters were warned three times not to cross a police line at the embassy and were then arrested for that misdemeanor offense. Clooney can be seen in MSNBC video before the arrest checking to make sure all the protesters were safe, and then chatting with reporters as he and his father were led off by law enforcement.

Also before the arrest, he’d spoken out about violence in the region, Politics Now reported from D.C.

‘They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children,’ Clooney’s rep told TMZ. ‘They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.’

Advertisement

Among the dozen or so arrested with the Clooneys -- father Nick is a journalist -- were Rep. Jim McGovern, (D-Mass.), Rep. Jim Moran, (D-Va.), NAACP President Ben Jealous; and Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Classier than a DUI arrest, no?

RELATED:

Daryl Hannah arrested at pipeline protest outside White House

Yes, George Clooney had malaria from Sudan trip -- emphasis on ‘had’

Brad Pitt, George Clooney buddy up for gay marriage play ‘8’ in Los Angeles

— Christie D’Zurilla
twitter.com/dzurillaville
Christie D’Zurilla on Google+

Advertisement
Advertisement