Actor Sean Penn traveled to Washington DC to watch the fifth January 6 committee hearing in person: 'I'm just here to observe'

• Actor Sean Penn showed up unexpectedly at Thursday's January 6 committee hearing.
• "I think we all saw what happened on January 6 and now we're looking to see if justice comes on the other side of it."

Sean Penn, a Hollywood actor best known for his role in films ranging from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" to "Into the Wild," unexpectedly made an appearance in Washington, DC at the January 6 committee hearing on Thursday.

Multiple reporters shared photos of Penn seated in the audience for the hearing, seated beside DC Metropolitan Police Office Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, both of whom responded to the January 6 attack and testified about their experiences last summer.

"I'm just here to observe — just another citizen," he told CNN's Annie Grayer. "I think we all saw what happened on January 6 and now we're looking to see if justice comes on the other side of it."

It was unclear why Penn was at the hearing, aside from the explanation he gave. But it's not the first time he's shown up in a context outside of Hollywood.

Penn traveled to Ukraine in November 2021 as part of a documentary about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

And Penn has something of a habit of for turning up in strange places, meeting with Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera on a mountain-top for an interview while the drug lord was on the run after escaping from a maximum security Mexican prison.