Congressional Baseball Game: US Capitol Police say security plan in place ahead of possible protest
WASHINGTON - U.S. Capitol Police are prepared for any protests that could take place during the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park Thursday.
In a statement released online, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said a "robust" plan is in place and that the department "will not tolerate" any unlawful behavior during the charity event.
"We are aware that demonstrators are planning to protest political issues at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. Our mission is to protect the Members of Congress during this family event, so we have a robust security plan in place," Manger said in the statement. "We urge anyone who is thinking about causing trouble at the charity game to stay home. We will not tolerate violence or any unlawful behavior during this family event."
FOX 5's Bob Barnard was at Nationals Park Thursday morning ahead of the game where Republicans and Democrats took batting and fielding practice and spoke with Minority Whip Steve Scalise about the possible protests.
"Anytime a group is threatening to come and shut the game down or something, you know it's disgraceful to me because it's a game for charity. I mean, this is helping local youth clubs in D. C.," he said. "We raised over a million, almost a million and a half dollars. Maybe if somebody doesn't like their lives, they should maybe go help some of those people that are less fortunate instead of trying to disrupt something that's helping young kids. BUT we're going to play the game - and the show must go on and we're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to compete. Hopefully we're going to win and we're going to raise a lot of money for local youth groups here in D. C."
In 2017, a rifle-wielding attacker opened fire on Republican lawmakers as they practiced for the charity baseball game, wounding Scalise and others as they dove for cover.
The 2022 Congressional Baseball Game will be played at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are available online.