(Headline USA) The annual Congressional Baseball Game in Washington, D.C., broke out into chaos Thursday night thanks to radical climate activists and anti-Israel protesters on the Democrats’ side of the field, some of whom went on to rush the field.
The game, which raises money for local charities in the D.C. area, features lawmakers from the GOP and Democratic Party on competing teams.
According to a Thursday morning press release, the game had raised over $2 million for local charities in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and it had sold more than 25,000 tickets—smashing the previous attendance and fundraising records set in 2023.
In past years, it served as a much needed symbol that lawmakers could put aside the sometimes acrimonious differences that divide them in the halls of Congress and channel those competitive instincts into a more positive arena.
Unfortunately, this year’s game itself didn’t go quite as smoothly as organizers might have hoped, since some of those tickets appeared to have been bought up by George Soros-funded activists.
At one point, pro-Hamas protesters unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner in the right field section by the foul post. They were met with boos from the Republican spectators in the stands.
Environmental protesters were also seen holding signs that read, “Stop playing games with our future” and “End fossil fuels.”
At one point, several of these protesters jumped onto the field, forcing the game to pause.
“We have taken the field at the Congressional Baseball Game + play has FROZEN! Congress sends billions of public $$ to subsidize deadly fossil fuels—but the police are tackling us instead,” the leftist group Climate Defiance, which took credit for the protest, wrote on X.
“This Chevron-sponsored game cannot continue,” they added. “This is unconscionable.”
U.S. Capitol Police were forced to chase down the protesters and tase one of them. Eight of the activists were arrested, USCP confirmed.
“We are proud of our officers who are working to keep everyone safe during tonight’s Congressional Baseball Game for Charity,” Capitol Police said in a statement.
“When eight people tried to protest on the field, our officers quickly stopped them and arrested them,” the statement continued. “The eight people are being charged with federal charges – Interference with a Member of the U.S. Capitol Police.”
Climate Defiance complained in a subsequent post on X that their members had been “brutalized” by law enforcement.
“We were brutalized tonight – beaten and bruised as we took over the Congressional Baseball Game,” the group wrote. “Our bodies are bloodied but our spirits are unmoved. We will build a better world. We will rise again. We will prevail. Just you wait.”
We were brutalized tonight – beaten and bruised as we took over the Congressional Baseball Game. Our bodies are bloodied but our spirits are unmoved. We will build a better world. We will rise again. We will prevail. Just you wait. pic.twitter.com/hganGo5Ogw
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) June 13, 2024
The game notably was forced into the spotlight in 2017 after 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter from Illinois, began shooting during one of the GOP practice sessions in Alexandria, Va., critically injuring Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and wounding five others.
