James Cromwell, badass 77-year-old, is headed to jail over power plant protest
If I live to be 77 years old, I hope to God I am as badass as James Cromwell. Cromwell is 77 years old, an Oscar-nominated actor, and a decades-long activist of progressive and liberal causes. I just spent a few minutes reading his Wiki page with absolute pleasure – he was a member of the Committee to Defend the Panthers, and has praised the Black Panthers on numerous occasions. He’s a long-time animal-rights advocate and a activist for Native American causes. He’s been involved with civil rights causes for decades, and in recent years, he’s been disrupting and protesting a power station in Wawayanda, New York. He was arrested in December 2015 for protesting, then just a month ago, he was arrested again for protesting a Democratic Party event. Well, regarding the 2015 arrest… Cromwell is going to jail!
The Emmy Award-winning Babe and L.A. Confidential actor James Cromwell has been sentenced to seven days of jail time at Orange County Jail, after refusing to pay a $375 fine related to his arrest at a protest in Wawayanda, New York.
The Farmer Hoggett actor was one of six environmental protestors found guilty of obstructing traffic when they staged a sit-in on the site of Competitive Power Ventures’ prospective natural gas-fired power plant in the town. They argued that the carbon emissions that would be emitted by the CPV power plant would pose an imminent threat to the local environment, and accelerate climate change.
Three of the six protestors paid their fine, but along with Cromwell, Pramilla Malick and Madeline Shaw will face prison time, Variety reports. Cromwell said: “If we don’t stay together, nothing will change. Power to the people.”
However, following an appeal, the three defendants now have a new deadline of July 14 to pay their $375 fine.
[From People]
The instinct for many would be “oh, it’s just a $375 fine, someone should pay that on his behalf.” That’s not the point. The point is that he wants to go to jail for his beliefs. He wants this to be the story. He wants to raise the profile of this environmental issue, and he’s going about it in the right way. If he had paid the fine, it would have been a minor story, barely covered by any media outlets. But now the headlines are “77-year-old Oscar nominated actor is going to jail for environmental protest.” That’s exactly what he wanted. Plus, he’s only going to jail for seven days! Thug life, doing time, no snitches.
You're not alone @walkoutboys – But rest assured, I am in fact, #AliveandCromwell https://t.co/ZzJW2KJ3f0
— James Cromwell
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Source: James Cromwell, badass 77-year-old, is headed to jail over power plant protest
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