Lily Tomlin arrested while taking part in climate protest led by Jane Fonda

‘You ladies rock. Thank you for helping to keep these very serious issues in the limelight!’ Twitter user writes

Lily Tomlin has been arrested while taking part in a climate protest led by her Grace and Frankie co-star Jane Fonda.

The event was the 12th consecutive Fire Drill Fridays protest, an initiative announced by Fonda in October and inspired by environmental activist Greta Thunberg and the recent youth climate strikes.

The weekly protests have seen Fonda and an array of other high-profile individuals participate in demonstrations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC in an effort to encourage political leaders to take action “to address the climate emergency."

During the demonstration on Friday 27 November, 80-year-old Tomlin and another protester were filmed being arrested and handcuffed by police.

In the video, Tomlin smiles and raises her plastic handcuffs as a crowd of onlookers clap and cheer.

Lily Tomlin is arrested at a climate protest outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC on 27 December 2019 (Getty Images)

While Fonda was not arrested during Friday’s protest, last week she was arrested for the fifth time on the eve of her 82nd birthday.

The Twitter account for Fire Drill Fridays shared the footage of Tomlin’s arrest, writing: “@LilyTomlin was just arrested because forests can’t wait!

“To maximise the climate benefit of forests, we must keep more forest landscapes intact, manage forests sustainably, and restore those that we have lost. #FireDrillFriday.”

Several Twitter users praised Tomlin and Fonda for using their platforms to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

“You ladies rock. Thank you for helping to keep these very serious issues in the limelight!” one person tweeted.

“It’s great that you all are using your platform for positive changes!” another remarked.

In October, Fonda was arrested during a climate protest alongside The Good Place star Ted Danson.