Capitol Police step up security ahead of Congressional Baseball Game - 4 minutes read




The chief of the US Capitol Police has told protesters who plan to disrupt Thursday night’s Congressional Baseball Game to “stay home,” vowing that his department “will not tolerate violence or any unlawful behavior during this family event.”




“We are aware that demonstrators are planning to protest political issues at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity,” Chief Tom Manger said in a statement Wednesday. 




“Our mission is to protect the Members of Congress during this family event, so we have a robust security plan in place,” he added.




“We have a robust security plan in place,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger assured.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images



Several climate activism groups have threatened to protest this year’s Republican vs. Democrat showdown as legislation that would spend billions of dollars to counteract the effects of climate change remains in limbo.




“On July 28th, we will converge en masse on the Congressional Baseball Game to urge President Biden and Democrats to follow through on their climate promises by immediately passing historic climate investments into law and by declaring a climate emergency to leverage their full authority in tackling the crisis,” climate group Now or Never promised on its website.




“Everything we love is at stake. Our safety, our future, our one and only home. It’s time to leave everything on the field.”








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The group has also warned of further action across the country if legislation is not moved by Aug. 5. If nothing happens by Sept. 30, Now or Never has vowed to hold a “highly disruptive, mass direct action that fundamentally disrupts business-as-usual in DC.” 




Left-wing activist organization ShutDownDC — which has organized protests outside the homes of the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade last month — is also planning to protest at the game. 




“Glaciers are melting. Homes are burning. Seas are rising. And our politicians are spending their time playing games. This cannot stand. This will not stand,” the organization tweeted Wednesday. “We will shut down the Congressional Baseball Game tomorrow. If you’re with us, let us know.”




Thursday night’s game at Nationals Park comes five years after a gunman opened fire on a practice held by the Republican team in Alexandria, Va. Then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and three others were injured in the shooting. 




On the fifth anniversary of the attack last month, Scalise hailed the Capitol Police officers who shot and killed the gunman as “heroes.”




“I shouldn’t be alive today, by most standards, if you look at what happened and how that day ended up,” he told Fox News at the time. “But it was because of heroes, you know, David Bailey and Crystal Griner with Capitol Police, who saved all of us, [Rep. Brad] Wenstrup, my colleague from Ohio who’s a medical doctor, who immediately came and provided life-saving surgery. I wouldn’t have even made it to the hospital. And then, of course, all the teams of surgeons — there were a lot of surgeries I went through.




Several climate activism groups have threatened to protest at this year’s Congressional Baseball Game.Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images



“But look, God was on that ballfield that day,” Scalise added. “There were miracles that no one can explain except that God was there protecting us, and I thank God every day that He was there to look out for all of us.”




The USCP said it would be the primary agency responsible for protecting lawmakers during the game and declined to detail security plans due to “safety reasons.”








Any arrests related to “unlawful demonstrations” will be handled by Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police added.

Source: New York Post

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