James Cromwell was arrested yesterday (February 7, 2013) when he staged a protest, along with PETA spokesman Jeremy Beckham, at the University of Wisconsin. Cromwell and Beckham were protesting the University’s alleged animal abuse, claiming that 30 cats per year are “starved, deafened, and decapitated for brain research that hasn't accomplished its goals of improving human hearing,” TMZ reports. The University of Wisconsin has denied the accusations.

The Oscar-nominated actor reportedly stormed into a UW System Board of Regents meeting, holding signs showing a cat with metal implanted in its head, at one of the university’s laboratories and shouting slogans such as “This is not science. This is cruel!” Although those attending the meeting were clearly taken aback, nobody actually responded to the protestors. The police were called and James Cromwell was soon arrested, along with Jeremy Beckham.

They were led out in handcuffs, taken to a local police station and the meeting immediately resumed. It is expected that they The director of the university’s Research Animal Resources Center released a statement, to say that “Exhaustive independent investigation by the USDA, which regulates the use of animals in research, concluded that PETA's allegations are baseless.” James Cromwell, 73, starred in the TV series American Horror Story: Asylum and Six Feet Under as well as movies such as LA Confidential and The Green Mile.  

James Cromwell

James Cromwell and wife Anne Ulvestad