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Abigail Disney Arrested While Protesting With Climate Activists Over Private Jets At Airport
Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney and great niece of Walt Disney, was arrested over the weekend for fighting the good fight against climate change.
Disney, who has used the fame derived from her family legacy to speak out about multiple progressive causes, joined a protest at a private airport in the ultra-exclusive Hamptons on Long Island, New York last Friday.
Disney joined non-profit organizations New York Communities for Change, the Sunrise Movement and Reclaim Our Tomorrow to protest the private air travel habits of the rich and their impact on climate change.
Disney and other protesters linked arms through a series of pipes to form a human barrier so that private jet travelers could not enter or exit the airport in East Hampton, leading to several arrests including Disney's, as seen below.
@thenewsmovement Abigail Disney, the heiress of the Disney fortune, was arrested in New York after she blocked a small airport servicing private jet departures and arrivals along with other climate activists #climate #climatechange #activism #juststopoil #disney
Police warned protesters twice that they should leave the premises before cutting apart the pipes of their human barrier to separate them and make arrests.
Speaking to a reporter at the protest, Disney referenced the annual elite climate change gatherings at the Aspen Institute and said she was tired of the hypocrisy of the wealthy when it comes to the issue.
"I'm sick and tired of watching people take off in private planes to Aspen to talk about the freaking environment."
"The level of democracy is sickening. I'm hoping to get arrested. I want people to see that this is worth it."
Afterward, Disney was proud of her arrest, taking to Twitter to celebrate her first-ever mugshot and fingerprinting, as seen below.
She tweeted:
"At 63 I still had not popped my fingerprint/mug shot cherry so I did this."
"Because the last thing this planet needs is billionaires spewing greenhouse gases to get to their palatial beach homes. Just so wrong."
On social media, many people applauded Disney for using her privilege to highlight an important issue.
In a statement to Fox News, Disney also called upon the wealthy to do their part for climate change, who she says are overwhelmingly more responsible for greenhouse gases than the average citizen.
"The wealthiest 1 per cent uses as much greenhouse gas as the entire bottom 50 per cent. It is time for real change and this is the most obvious place to start."
Disney and 13 others were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.