Rosie Perez Arrested

11/16/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Actress Rosie Perez, 35, and seven others were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in New York on Thursday after protesting in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations over the Navy's bombing range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. "Rosie is a proud Puerto Rican girl whose family and friends in Puerto Rico are directly affected by the actions she's protesting," a spokesman for Perez ("Do the Right Thing," "White Men Can't Jump"), told the Associated Press. Puerto Rican lawmakers and thousands of other supporters have been calling on the U.S. military to leave Vieques. But military officials have insisted the island is vital to hosting the bombing runs.