George Clooney was arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Friday during a heated protest to decry Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, an alleged war criminal, multiple outlets are reporting.
The actor, 50, was handcuffed outside the building after three verbal warnings at the Embassy, located on Massachusetts Avenue.
Following his Friday arrest, he explained to Us Weekly:
“They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children. They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.”
The star’s father, Nick Clooney, was also detained after the protest. Clooney testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday to speak out against a “campaign of murder” in Sudan, where impoverished locals fear for their lives thanks to daily bombings.
“What you see is a constant drip of fear,” said Clooney, who saw the horrors firsthand during a visit earlier this week to the African nation. “We found children filled with shrapnel, including a 9-year-old boy who had both of his hands blown of.”
The Descendants actor blames the attacks on Sudanese government, including President Omar al-Bashir and other leaders.
Clooney co-founded the Sudan Sentinel Project with John Prendergast to track human rights abuses in the Sudan.
Earlier this week, Clooney was accused by BBC reporter Martin Plaut of being “so abrasive” with UNHCR official over delays in food supplies at the Yida refugee camp in the southern region of Sudan.
In response, Clooney told Us Weekly in a Thursday statement: “The hunger issue in camp yida is now temporarily resolved. The UN released a months’ worth of rations the next day after letting them fall a week behind. There were much more complicated issues at play then Mr. Plaut was privy to.”
