’90s TV star sparks outrage as she is caught putting up anti-ICE signs near her $2million Los Angeles home
Actress Anne-Marie Johnson went incognito Monday to install placards near her Los Angeles home that took aim at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The 65-year-old, who starred in the What’s Happening!! spin-off What’s Happening Now!! and several sitcoms in the 90s, erected signs calling for the agency to be abolished.
Emblazoned placards included ‘f*** ICE’ and ‘resist fascism,’ and one compared federal officers to the Gestapo.
Johnson was clad in a navy blue hoodie, a matching cap and sunglasses for the occasion, witnesses said.
The actress used a drill and hedge clippers to attach the signs. She was seen speaking to a neighbor about them shortly after, witnesses said.
Johnson starred as Alycia Barnett on season four of Melrose Place in 1995 and as Congresswoman Bobbi Latham on JAG from 1997 to 2002.
Actress Anne-Marie Johnson puts up anti-ICE signs near her Los Angeles home on Monday
Johnson played Alycia Barnett on 14 episodes of Fox’s Melrose Place from 1995 to 1996
The display outside the Silver Lake property comes after two fatal shootings by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis
Johnson, wearing a maroon coat with a grey sweater, takes the trash out on Tuesday
She also played a major role in the sitcom Heat of the Night, a successful TV sequel to the Sydney Poitier-led film, which wrapped in 1995.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Johnson’s representatives for comment.
The actress has also appeared in Girlfriends, Tyler Perry’s House of Pain, That’s So Raven, Murder, Dharma & Greg, CSI, NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy.
Johnson reprised her role of Donna Cabonna for an episode of the That’s So Raven spin-off, Raven’s Home, which aired in 2022.
She was pictured again in front of the $2 million Silver Lake home on Tuesday while taking out the trash, this time in a maroon coat over a grey sweater and blue pants.
It came against a backdrop of anti-ICE discourse across America, fueled by the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti on January 24 and Renee Good on January 7, both in Minneapolis.
On Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said all ICE and DHS officers will now be required to wear body cameras.
Noem previously made claims after the shooting of Pretti that were later disproven by bystander footage.
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One of the signs the actress posted compared current conditions to those that led to the Second World War, reading ‘1933 Gestapo RESIST 2025 ICE’
Johnson – known for stints on shows including In the Heat of the Night, Girlfriends and What’s Happening Now!! – used hedge clippers to remove branches outside her home
She was clad in a navy blue hoodie with a matching cap and sunglasses for the occasion
As a supporting character on a 2020 episode of ABC legal drama How to Get Away with Murder
Members of Congress convened on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss increasing rates of violent force from immigration agents as Donald Trump’s nationwide crackdown continues.
Democrats threatened to block long-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless Republicans agreed to restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts.
Demands include a ban on agents wearing masks to hide their faces, as well as better-defined guidelines on when immigration agents are authorized to use force.
Democrats are also calling for independent investigations into ICE-involved incidents.
Unrest has mounted around the country since the Minnesota shootings. Students staged walkouts on Friday morning amid a general strike in cities such as New York.
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, celebrities have spoken out, such as Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny, who both used their Grammys acceptance speeches to slam ICE.
Johnson has largely stayed out of the limelight for the past several years.
She played Althea Tibbs opposite the late Carroll O’Connor on 119 episodes of In the Heat of the Night, following her big break on What’s Happening Now!!
Her Melrose Place character was an attorney and romantic interest of Jack Wagner’s character, Dr Peter Burns.
The actress spoke to a neighbor about the signage on Monday, witnesses said
The discussion went on for about 20 minutes, according to onlookers
Johnson has stayed out of the limelight for the past several years, aside from the odd bit part
The actress on an episode of NBC series The In Between in 2019
Johnson (right) held a major role in the sitcom Heat of the Night – a successful TV sequel to the Sidney Poitier-led film – that finished in 1995
More recently, Johnson appeared on a 2023 episode of NCIS, where she played a senator whose daughter was murdered
Her Hollywood heyday continued into the 2000s with a recurring role on JAG, which she made her last appearance on in 2002.
More than 50 credits on shows such as Ally McBeal, The X-Files and Bones followed, according to IMDB.
She most recently appeared as a senator in an episode of the 23rd season of NCIS in 2023 and in an independent film titled The Addiction of Hope last year.
