Alyssa Milano was arrested in Washington as she protested for voting rights and urged the Senate and the Biden administration to protect this sacred tenet of democracy.
Take to the White House! Charmed actress Alyssa Milano, 48, was arrested on Tuesday, Oct. 19 after attending a protest which urged political action on voting rights. The demonstration took place in front of the White House, and Alyssa reported on the matter after the fact, taking to her social media to share what went down in Washington.
“I was just arrested for demanding the Biden Administration and the Senate to use their mandate to protect voting rights,” Alyssa wrote on Twitter. “Stand with me and @peoplefor and tell the Senate and White House that voting rights shouldn’t depend on where you live. #DontMuteOurVote[.]”
The Senate is scheduled to decide on Oct. 20 whether or not to move forward with the Freedom to Vote act. The bill, introduced by a group Democratic senators lead by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), addresses issues with the current system, including restricted access to the ballot, voter roll purges, campaign finance laws, and more. Outlined in the documentary All In: The Fight For Democracy, former Georgia representative and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams explains how these discrepancies take place across the country and encourages citizens to know their voting registration status, push congress to vote for the act, and end the filibuster — a tool the Republicans have employed to block the bill.
Alyssa has made a name for herself in the activism sphere over the past few years, recently expressing her outrage about Texas’ restrictive abortion bill. “The newest Texas abortion ban, #SB8, gives politicians, neighbors, and even strangers the right to sue those who provide — or just help patients get — abortion after 6 wks,” the star wrote on Twitter. “The time to fight for our reproductive health & rights is now!”
Alyssa isn’t the only celebrity who’s taken a political stand. Actress Jane Fonda — long known for her progressive activism — was arrested for the fifth time in 2019 after protesting the White House among climate change activists. For what’s been called “Fire Drill Fridays,” the two-time Oscar winner (plus other famous faces) brought more attention to the fight against fossil fuels in an effort to combat climate change.