Climate protesters arrested at congressional baseball game

At 7:53 p.m., during the second inning of the 91st annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park, eight climate protesters jumped over a fence to enter the field. Almost immediately, U.S. Capitol Police officers tackled them on the ground – they were expecting the raid. The youth climate group Climate Defiance had published its plan on X the day before.

IMPORTANT: We are less than 24 hours away from blocking the Congressional baseball game. Calamity is coming and yet our “leaders” are spending billions on fossil fuels. Tomorrow they play a ball game sponsored by Chevron. We will converge. We will be impossible to forget. Share widely.

– Climate Challenge (@ClimateDefiance) June 11, 2024

Police were guarding easy access to the pitch before the match started, so protesters jumped from the stands. Before the game, Climate Defiance activists chanted outside the park gate as spectators streamed in, and a wall of police encountered them for the first time.

Some spectators chanted “USA! UNITED STATES!” as protesters were handcuffed. Others clapped in support of the protesters. After the arrests, dozens of police officers took positions around the outfield.

The eight protesters were federally charged with interfering with Capitol Police, according to a statement released by the U.S. Capitol Police on match.

After a 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball game practice in Alexandria in which six people were injured, including Republican Congressman Steve Scalise, the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, which honors the officers present during the shooting, has been added to the list of charities. the game benefits from this.