Eight apparent climate protesters were arrested after storming the field at the annual congressional baseball game Wednesday night and hit with federal charges, U.S. Capitol police confirmed.
The group Climate Defiance took credit for the action on X, formerly Twitter, writing that all eight people were taken into custody and were “behind bars” just after 9 p.m.
“We are not here to watch Congress play games while the planet burns to ash and subsidies add fuel to the fire,” the group wrote. “We are here to disrupt and shut down fossil-fueled business as usual.”
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“Congress sends billions of public $$ to subsidize deadly fossil fuels—but the police are tackling us instead,” they added, along with a video of officers tackling the group after they jumped onto the field at Nationals Park.
In the clip, pandemonium ensues when the group, wearing matching T-shirts, jumps over a high fence separating the stands and the field. Several are taken down by officers almost immediately, while several more make their way almost to center field before being tackled.
The chaos lasts for a few moments before they are all walked away in handcuffs.
The group were booked on charges of interference with a member of the U.S. Capitol Police, the department said.
“Before the charity game, we were aware that some people planned to possibly protest,” it added in a statement. “This was discussed during our planning meetings and put in our comprehensive action plan to ensure we had plenty of resources to swiftly respond.”
Prior to the game, an organizer for Climate Defiance told The Hill that they planned to “shut down” the annual event. A much larger group of climate protesters gathered outside the stadium with signs and bullhorns, shouting at attendees as they arrived.
“This game is an important kind of illustration of what’s wrong with our politics and our political elite that’s destroying our planet,” Evan Drukker-Schardl, one of the group’s organizers, said. “We’re not going to let this celebration of corporate political corruption go unchallenged.”
The Hill notes that the same group attempted to blockade the White House Correspondents’ Dinner earlier this year.
