At 7:53 PM, during the second inning of the 91st annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park, eight climate protesters jumped over a fence onto the field. Almost immediately, US Capitol Police officers tackled them to the turf — they’d been expecting the raid. Youth climate group Climate Defiance had posted their plan on X the day before.
IMPORTANT: we’re less than 24 hours out from blockading the Congressional Baseball Game. Calamity is nearing yet our “leaders” fork over billions to fossil fuels. Tomorrow they play a ballgame sponsored by Chevron. We will converge. We will be impossible to forget. Share widely.
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) June 11, 2024
Police had been guarding easy access points to the field since before the start of the game, so protesters jumped from high up in the stands. Before the game, activists from Climate Defiance had been chanting outside the park gate as spectators streamed in, and a wall of police had first met them there.
Some spectators chanted “USA! USA!” as the protesters were handcuffed. Others cheered in support of the protesters. After the arrests, dozens of officers took position around the outfield.
All eight protesters have been issued federal charges for interfering with Capitol police, according to a statement posted by the US Capitol Police on X. The statement said that the police had planned for the protests during their meetings leading up to the game.
After a 2017 shooting at a Congressional Baseball Game practice in Alexandria in which six people were injured including GOP Congressman Steve Scalise, the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, which honors the officers who were present at the shooting, was added to the list of charities the game benefits.
