LAPD Throw 'Full House' Actor Jodie Sweetin To The Ground During Abortion Protest
“Our activism will continue until our voices are heard and action is taken,” she said after the incident.
Jodie Sweetin, known to generations of fans as Stephanie Tanner on Full House and Fuller House, was at the entrance to a Los Angeles freeway on Saturday leading a group of people protesting the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which has guaranteed a right to abortion for almost 50 years, when she was thrown to the ground by armed officers.
In footage posted on social media, Sweetin stands near a line of officers who are trying to block protesters from advancing. One officer and then another shove her back, throwing her face down to the ground into the group of protesters, one of whom shouts, “What the f*ck is wrong with you guys?” Undeterred, Sweetin, dressed in black jeans and a black shirt and carrying a backpack and a megaphone, stands, dusts herself off, and takes her place amidst her fellow protesters, who begin to chant, “No justice, no peace!”
The scene was also caught on camera by a local news helicopter. The aerial footage clearly shows two officers shoving Sweetin to the ground.
In a statement provided to ABC News, Sweetin said, “I’m extremely proud of the hundreds of people who showed up yesterday to exercise their First Amendment rights and take immediate action to peacefully protest the giant injustices that have been delivered from our Supreme Court.”
She continued, “Our activism will continue until our voices are heard and action is taken. This will not deter us, we will continue fighting for our rights. We are not free until ALL of us are free.”
In a statement provided to People, the LAPD said they were “aware of a video clip of a woman being pushed to the ground by officers not allowing the group to enter on foot and overtake the 101 freeway.”
“The force used will be evaluated against the LAPD’s policy and procedure,” the statement continued.
The LAPD has been accused of using excessive force for decades, including the brutal beating of Rodney King in 1991. According to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times, LAPD officers have killed 969 people since 2000, or an average of 42 per year. Yet, since 2000, only two officers have been charged for shooting a civilian while on duty.
Sweetin, 40, is the mother to two daughters, Zoie, 14, and Beatrix, 11. She has allied herself before with a number of progressive causes.
While Full House was the epitome of the sort of feel-good, family-friendly show that would play well in both red and blue states, it shouldn’t be surprising, perhaps, that the actor who played a little girl raised by three kind men who always listened to her and showed her their respect should grow up to become an advocate for reproductive rights.
