Clooney testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
George Clooney's Run-In With the Secret Service
The actor is arrested for protesting the Sudanese government; had earlier testified on Capitol Hill with USAID officers.
George Clooney’s tour of Washington’s sights this week has thus far included a trip to Capitol Hill, a meeting with President Obama, the front steps of the Sudanese Embassy to the U.S. and now ... the local jail?
The Oscar-winning actor and activist was arrested Friday morning -- along with Enough Project leader John Prendergast, Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous and several lawmakers -- for trespassing on private property. Clooney and his companions were protesting the Sudanese government’s blocking of humanitarian aid to its people.
According to The Washington Post, Secret Service agents were the ones making the arrest -- just another exciting day in the life of a federal officer.
Clooney testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, along with officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, regarding the crisis in Sudan and met with Obama on Thursday, advising him to push China to pressure the Sudanese government. He also attended the State Dinner on Thursday, sitting at the VIP table with the Obamas.
NBC reports that the current and former lawmakers arrested along with Clooney were Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and former Rep. Tom Andrews, D-Mass.