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Daryl Hannah Arrested at White House Pipeline Protest

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on August 30, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Daryl Hannah, arrested in front of the White House, added another notch to her environmental belt on Tuesday afternoon.

Along with a group of 100 others, the Splash and Wall Street actress was participating in a sit-in protesting the Keystone oil pipeline. If approved, the pipeline will run from Alberta, Canada through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma to refineries located in Texas.

The protesters want to end the country's dependence on fossil fuels, and urged the president to instead use the funds for clean energy.

Though this appears to be the first time Daryl Hannah has been arrested at the White House, this isn't the first time she has been arrested for her environmentalist proclivities.

She's been jailed for chaining herself to a walnut tree in Los Angeles, as well as for sitting in the middle of a road in protest of a mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

Those charges included trespassing and obstruction of roadways, while Tuesday's White House arrest will likely be limited to Hannah's failure to comply with official orders.

U.S. Park Police told the group of protesters to leave the sidewalks, but they refused, reports the Associated Press.

Though the sidewalk in front of the White House is traditionally a public space, law enforcement is still allowed to place reasonable limitations on protests, particularly in light of safety concerns.

So, what's next for Daryl Hannah?

Arrested for such a minor infraction, she's likely to walk away with a fine--even if she's been known to exercise her First Amendment rights in a way that often violates the law.

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