‘Full House’ star describes being pushed to the ground during protest Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00)
So this video is making waves. It shows actress, Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner on the sitcom Full House, being shoved to the ground by police during an abortion rights demonstration in Los Angeles. That protest, and others throughout the country, were in response to the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe V. Wade and Jodie Sweetin joins us now.

Speaker 1: (00:17)
Jodie, thank you so much for being with us. Just explain to us what happened there; the moments before, during and after,

Jodie Sweetin: (00:28)
You know, there was a crowd of us out there that were really passionate and marching about this incredible injustice in the Supreme Court and right before that everyone had been gathered there. There was a police line. We weren’t moving forward on towards the freeway or towards any cars and I was coming around the other side and everyone was kind of gathered in front of the police and some distance back, and they were walking me back and I just felt my backpack pulled as I was walking forward.

At the end of the day, I guess my biggest concern is to consistently bring this back to, why we were out there and that it’s not about me. I guess people are shocked, because it’s a video about somebody that they’ve grown up with and that they know. But you know, it’s really important to me, for people to see the cause why we were out there.

Speaker 3: (01:26)
But it’s also important to talk about how people are being treated. Right? I mean we’re seeing protests everywhere.

Well that’s part of… That’s definitely part of the reason also, police brutality and the way protestors were treated. I mean, this isn’t my first time out in the streets. This is one of the more mild things I’ve seen happen to protestors. I’ve seen protestors get hit by cars. I’ve seen them denied medical service. I’ve seen all sorts of things done to protestors by police at times, when we’re out there in the streets.

Speaker 3: (01:54)
So the LAPD says they’re aware of a video clip of a woman, which is you, 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. As the nation continues to wrestle with the latest Supreme Court decision, the Los Angeles Police Department will continue to facilitate First Amendment rights, while protecting life and property.

Speaker 3: (02:19)
You know, what do you say to that and what do you think should have happened here?

I mean, when we were out there that day and I posted several other videos too, they were trying to take people’s bikes who were on the front line. There’s some videos, some young girls, maybe 15 or 16 that are also being wrestled to the ground by officers.

There was a lot of passion on a lot of heat out there. At the end of the day, I’m not going after the LAPD. I’m not suing anybody. That’s not the point of any of this. I didn’t even release the video. All of this is to just constantly draw attention back to the ideas of police brutality, victims families, women’s rights, all of these things that I’m so passionate about.

I don’t know what the right answer would’ve been, but you know, the police had the freeway blocked off. There was no one going forward, that they had the off ramp blocked off. It was pretty clear that no one was going on the freeway.

Speaker 1: (03:22)
So, talk to us about why you were there. Talk to us about your activism.

You know, I have been out, involved in protests, since probably right around the George Floyd Movement. I’ve been involved before, but that was when I really found a much more consistent passion for my activism that I really, I just knew I had to keep showing up all the time. And you’ll forgive me, my voice is really hoarse from yelling on Friday and Saturday and being out their protests.

But, I’m passionate about doing things that affect other people. Here in California, yes, we’re a sanctuary state and we’re codifying it into our state constitution, but there are women all over the country. I’m a mom of two girls, who are 14 and 12 years old, and I realize that their lives would be entirely different if I lived one or two states over and that kind of fear as a mom, I just, I know what my mom spent her life fighting for was to make sure that we had the right to choose and to know that my daughters are going to grow up with less rights than I have, is just, is really horrific and really shocking.

And to know that people focus on police brutality more when an actress that they know gets tossed to the ground rather than a person of color being severely injured, I just want to keep bringing the attention back to that fact.

Speaker 3: (04:52)
Jodie, what is your message for lawmakers in Washington? And do you think that Democrats are doing all they can do to make the changes you want to see made?

No, I don’t. I don’t think that the Democrats are doing all that they can do, but I also think that’s in large part based on the systems that we’ve had in place now for gosh, the last 10 years of complete… There’s constant impasse. We’re never able to really pass anything and the right fights really hard and they unify together and the left tends to pick itself apart. It can be really frustrating because, to the Supreme Court, I just want to say that my daughters deserve a right to choose whether or not they become a parent, what their life looks like, whether or not they bring children into a world that’s full of climate change and full of all of these things.

I just, I’m in shock that in 2022 in America, we have lost that right to choose and I keep saying in places like Iceland in the seventies. Mexico City, recently. Poland, women really stood up. There were national strikes. There were things that women did that really caused a disruption to daily life, that got the point across and things happened and things changed. And you know, if the Democratic party isn’t going to do it, then I feel like it relied upon us as the people to stand up and really fight for what we believe in

Speaker 1: (06:18)
Jodie Sweetin, thanks for coming on this morning. We know it’s early for you. We do appreciate it.

Absolutely. I just hope everyone is paying attention to the causes out there because this is not about me.

‘Full House’ star describes being pushed to the ground during protest Transcript

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