Ryan Gosling closes Sydney Harbor Bridge: Climate activists riot
Left-wing activists slam Ryan Gosling’s film The Fall Guy for shutting down the Sydney Harbor Bridge, after a climate protester was jailed for eight months for blocking the motorway.
Left-wing activists took to Twitter to criticize the closure of the Sydney Harbor Bridge this weekend to film Ryan Gosling’s The Fall Guy.
The closure comes weeks after climate change protester Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco, 31, was sent to prison in December for eight months after she blocked a lane in April.
Twitter activists were furious over what they called a “double standard” after Ms Coco was jailed for what a magistrate called “selfish emotional” actions.
Left-wing activists are criticizing Ryan Gosling’s film The Fall Guy for shutting down the Sydney Harbor Bridge, after a climate protester was jailed for eight months for blocking one lane of a bridge. Pictured: Ryan Gosling filming on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on Sunday
‘Shooting a Ryan Gosling movie closes the Harbor Bridge. Everything’s fine. But a woman delays traffic on it to protest fossil fuels and is jailed. Got it,’ wrote one.
Others agreed with the sentiment, considering that Ms. Coco’s jail time was quite excessive for blocking a lane of traffic on the bridge.
The Sydney Harbor Bridge closed this morning for filming. All lanes closed both ways to cars, bicycles, pedestrians. What prison sentence will they receive? Oh wait… It’s to make money, not to cut emissions to save the climate,’ they wrote.
Twitter activists were furious over what they called a “double standard” after Ms Coco was jailed for what a magistrate called “selfish emotional” actions. Pictured: Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco being arrested
Another added: ‘Sydney Harbor Bridge closed for a motion filming with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Remember when the NSW government locked up Violet Coco late last year? Cognitive dissonance is massive. Closed is closed.
The bridge was closed from 3 am to 10 am in both directions. The Cahill Freeway was closed from 1 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The bike lane and trail were closed from 5:30 am to 10:00 am The Cahill Expressway footbridge was closed from 2:30 am to 12:30 pm
Twitter users were outraged by the closure after the climate activist was jailed for blocking a lane in April last year. She was sentenced in December.
Photos from the bridge showed production in full swing in the port city with Ryan crouching next to his stunt double.
At one point, he appeared to be riding on the edge of a dumpster in scenes that take place on the bridge.
The full-scale production saw the bridge packed with film crews, as well as a handful of cars and trucks for what would be the epic scenes.
Helicopters were also seen in the sky flying low while filming the high-octane scenes, and the movement reportedly disturbed nearby residents as well.
Ms Coco (pictured) presided over Downing Center Local Court in December before being sentenced to 15 months, with an eight-month non-parole period.
Climate change activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco was sentenced to a minimum of eight months in prison in December after blocking traffic on the bridge.
The court was told that Coco drove a large rental truck along the Cahill Expressway on the bridge to deliberately block a lane during rush hour on April 13, around 8:30 am.
As the truck clogged traffic, she stood on top of it, lit an emergency flare, and livestreamed the event.
The full-scale production saw the bridge packed with film crews, as well as a handful of cars and trucks for what would be the epic scenes.
After 25 minutes, the police arrived and forcibly removed the protesters from the iconic Sydney venue, with Coco resisting arrest.
Defense lawyer Mark Davis told the court that a “prominent fact” in Coco’s case was that she only blocked one lane on the Sydney Harbor Bridge when there were five.
“One lane was blocked … it was a deliberate decision to block only one lane,” Davis said.
“Simply put, the traffic may have still been moving, there was no indication that there was traffic backing up.”
Coco was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison with a non-parole period of eight months. His legal counsel immediately filed an appeal.
Coco is a serial protester and a member of climate activist groups like Extinction Rebellion and Fireproof Australia.
She has previously been in court for speaking out against a topless mining operation and for setting fire to a pram outside Parliament House.
Hollywood actor Ryan has been staying in Australia with his partner Eva Mendes (left). Photographed in 2012