A group of climate extremists have vowed to “shut down” the annual Congressional Baseball Game in June to pressure lawmakers into doing something to prevent a climate catastrophe and potentially save “billions” of lives.
The group, Climate Defiance, called for a “historic blockade” of the GOP vs. Democrat contest in a recent email to members and supporters, Fox News reported.
“We – society, humanity – are careening into an abyss. The decisions we make now will reverberate not for centuries, but for millennia. If we do not act now, boldly and swiftly, millions will die from storms and from starvation,” Climate Defiance said.
The group released a video Monday promising to “converge on the Congressional Baseball Game” and “blockade it.”
“We will shut it down. We call on every good person to join us,” the group said.
It is obscene that politicians play games as our planet turns to ash. 8,000,000 human beings die yearly of pollution. Our "leaders" hit balls and laugh. On June 12 we will blockade the Congressional Baseball Game. Come to DC. Join us. Signup here: https://t.co/PIXSwklHRb pic.twitter.com/SLtVXFki4v
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) April 22, 2024
“This March was the warmest on record – the tenth month in a row that was the hottest ever. Our planet is burning, and Congress is playing baseball,” the radical environmental group said in the email.
The protesters will target members of both parties as “like the Congressional Baseball Game, fossil fuel subsidies are a bipartisan affair,” Climate Defiance told Fox News, adding, “Biden’s 2023 budget plan even proposed cutting tens of billions in tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, but House Democrats themselves fought to keep those subsidies in place.”
“We are not asking you to give money right now. We are not asking you to sign a petition, or call your legislator, or tweet. We are asking you to join us, in person, in a blockade of the Congressional Baseball Game,” the group instructed members. “Shut it down with us.”
Climate Defiance founder Michael Greenberg noted that he organized a similar protest at the Congressional Baseball Game two years ago, but because the U.S. Senate reached a deal on climate spending just ahead of the scheduled event, the protest was canceled.
“So long as Congress torches our planet, we won’t give them a moment of rest. It is unconscionable that they play games while destroying our prospect for a decent future,” Greenberg said in a statement to Fox News. “Our entire world faces imminent catastrophe. Congress has the power to save millions – even billions – of lives. The fact that they haven’t already ended fossil fuel subsidies is shameful. We’re shutting down the Congressional Baseball Game to send a message: we will do whatever it takes to force those in power to end fossil fuels.”
Leaders of the radical climate group were invited to the White House in December for a private meeting with Joe Biden’s “clean energy czar” John Podesta, Fox reported last week.
According to White House records, on Dec. 15, Podesta met privately with Greenberg, the Climate Defiance co-founder, and Climate Defiance campaigner Bala Sivaraman. The group later boasted on social media that it had met with the top official and publicly shared a letter that its members had handed to him.
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today,” the group wrote to Podesta in the letter. “We appreciate your willingness to heed our deeply-held concerns. Echoing the voices of millions of Americans, we write to you in the eleventh hour of the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced: planetary and societal collapse due to the continued burning of fossil fuels.”
On its website, Climate Defiance calls for “consistent, mass-turnout, nonviolent disruption to stop business as usual and compel politicians to act.”
“When we engage in direct action — whether through a strike, a blockade, or a mass occupation — we break through,” the group says. “Direct action puts the state in a double-bind: allow the action (and the disruption) to continue or crack down, further driving up public support for the cause.”
The 2024 Congressional Baseball Game is set to be played at 5 p.m. on June 12 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
The annual event was first played in 1909. Republicans won last year’s contest 16 to 6.
On June 14, 2017, a mass shooting occurred during a Republican baseball practice session in Alexandria, Virginia. James Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old left-wing activist shot six people, including U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, U.S. Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, congressional aide Zack Barth, and lobbyist Matt Mika. After a ten-minute shootout, Capitol and Alexandria Police officers shot Hodgkinson, who died from his wounds later that day at the George Washington University Hospital.
Climate Defiance claimed in its email that they are a force to be reckoned with.
“We’ve never blocked roads (no shade to those who do). We’ve never targeted artwork. What we do, and what we do very well, is take the fight directly to the people in power. We make their lives MISERABLE until they relent.”
“That is exactly what we will do at the Congressional Baseball Game.”
Members of the same group of climate radicals caused a physical altercation during a gala hosted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) just last Thursday.
Things got physical when ten to twelve Climate Defiance agitators rushed the stage as Murkowski was giving a speech at the Bryce Harlow Foundation’s awards ceremony.
Murkowski received the foundation’s Bryce Harlow award, which is meant to honor an elected official “whose career is built on championing the principles of integrity, dedication and professionalism,” according to the foundation’s website. Past recipients of the award include prominent figures from both parties, such as Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
During the ensuing scuffle, several of the extremists were pushed off stage, toppling over each other and then resisting attempts by the event attendees to remove them. The agitators chanted anti-fossil fuels slogans as they were quickly removed from the event, and Murkowski finished giving her speech.
Climate Defiance posted a video of the scuffle on social media.
“We just shut down a gala honoring U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski,” the group boasted. “Murkowski is a murderer. She incinerates us to enrich her cronies. As Chevron’s top lobbyist gave her an award, we stepped in and stopped the ceremony. Respect us or expect us.”
There were no reports of arrests following the disruption.
BREAKING: We just shut down a gala honoring U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is a murderer. She incinerates us to enrich her cronies. As Chevron's top lobbyist gave her an award, we stepped in and stopped the ceremony. Respect us or expect us. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/Q72mHerpdg
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) April 18, 2024
Masked members of the group also ambushed Senator Manchin (D-Ky.), calling him a “sick fu-k” to his face, during an appearance at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts back in March.
JUST IN: Climate protester gets absolutely tossed after confronting Democrat Senator Joe Manchin.
The incident started when a climate activist called Manchin a “sick f**k” to his face.
The comment clearly seemed to irritate Manchin who quickly got up and confronted the… pic.twitter.com/Ex5n3VMoWH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 2, 2024