Susan Sarandon joins anti-Trump protest - and gets arrested

Acclaimed US actor Susan Sarandon was among 575 women arrested in Washington yesterday after the large group staged a peaceful sit-in protest against Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy at a Senate office at the Department of Justice.

Sarandon, 71, is incredibly outspoken about her political opinions and is a well-known activist in Hollywood. She has previously advocated for voting for third-party candidates instead of the Democrats, is a proud environmentalist, and is a supporter of socialism.

Sarandon tweeted throughout the staged rally on Thursday, where she and other protesters held placards demanding an end to immigration camps and the separation of children from their families.

The group’s slogan was ‘We care’ – a reference to the dumbfounding choice of jacket worn by first lady Melania Trump with ‘I really don’t care do u?’ emblazoned on the back when visiting a detainment centre last week.

There were chants of ‘What do we want? Free families!’ and ‘This is what democracy looks like’ before the women were arrested, charged and then released.

The Women’s March and the Center for Popular Democracy organised the protest and participants wore foil blankets like those worn by children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border.

Sarandon has been subjected to criticism since Trump’s election, with many blaming her for suggesting people vote for a third-party candidate, Green party nominee Jill Stein, instead of Hillary Clinton, who was Trump’s main rival.

In an interview with The Guardian last year, the actor confirmed that she still felt Clinton was in some ways more dangerous than Trump.

‘I did think she was very, very dangerous. We would still be fracking, we would be at war [if she was president]. It wouldn’t be much smoother. Look what happened under Obama that we didn’t notice.’