Jill Stein Tells NowThis News Why She Was Arrested In 2012

Donald Trump's financial woes and Hillary Clinton's email scandal may be grabbing most of the 2016 election headlines but Jill Stein, MD, the Green Party's presidential nominee, wants you to know why she was arrested in 2012. Dr. Stein has been arrested three times, and spent a night behind bars for "disorderly conduct" in 2012, according to ABC, for protesting the fact that she was excluded from the second presidential debate. In a video with NowThis, the politician explains her motivation. "It wasn't just me that was being locked out; it was the American public, who were clamoring for more voices and more choices," Dr. Stein said in the video. "As a candidate on the ballot for 85% of voters in the 2012 election, it felt like it was an utter violation of our democratic rights as a people to have another choice and another voice locked out of that debate." "My running mate and I are such terrifying grandmotherly types, of course, that they had to keep us under lock and key," Dr. Stein joked about the arrest in the video. She was detained "for seven hours, until the press had all gone home, and it couldn't be reported on." By the rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates, candidates must have at least 15% of the public opinion's support in at least five national polls to take part in a presidential debate. Dr. Stein is currently polling at 7%, NowThis noted. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Jill Stein holds a PhD. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and holds an MD, not a PhD. Refinery29 regrets the error.