James Cromwell arrested again for a protest at SeaWorld

James Cromwell (Reuters)

Just after spending a brief stint in jail, actor James Cromwell voluntarily found himself in handcuffs once again Monday following a protest at SeaWorld. The actor was handcuffed and escorted out of the park after interrupting a show.

Cromwell and a handful of protesters for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were removed from the park after the actor began to talk to the crowd through a megaphone during the park’s “Orca Encounter” show. Cromwell took issue with the park’s treatment of animals, which has come under criticism in recent years over the very concept of keeping orca whales in captivity.

The entire event was captured on video and uploaded to PETA’s Facebook page.

“Orcas deserve a full life in the ocean, not a life sentence of swimming endless circles until they drop dead from disease,” Cromwell said in a statement released by the organization. “My friends at PETA and I want SeaWorld to move these intelligent animals to seaside sanctuaries without delay.”

This isn’t the first time in recent weeks that the Academy Award nominee’s activism has landed him in hot water with the law. As previously reported, he was sentenced to spend seven days in jail after refusing to pay fines related to a December 2015 protest of a New York power plant. After being found guilty of obstructing traffic in the hopes of protesting the existence of a plant that he and fellow activists said was bad for the environment, he spent a week earlier this month in jail. However, given his actions at SeaWorld, the 77-year-old actor appears undeterred.