Climate protesters reportedly plan to block and shut down the annual congressional baseball game on Wednesday, but it doesn't worry Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas.
Williams, who coached the Republican team to victory last year, told Roll Call the protest is "on the stupid radar."
"Why would an environmentalist not like a baseball game?" he said, Roll Call reported. "Baseball is played on grass and dirt. What's wrong with that?"
The match, which raises money for local charities, pits Republicans against Democrats at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
Evan Drukker-Schardl, an organizer for Climate Defiance, which aims to end government support for fossil fuels, told the Roll Call: "The Congressional Baseball Game is a useful symbolic target. Congress is literally playing games while subsidizing the fossil fuel engine industry."
Drukker-Schardl said he expects hundreds of protesters to show up, but wouldn't say what they will do, the outlet reported.
Other activists targeted the baseball game in 2022, with some unfurling banners and dropping leaflets in the stands, the outlet reported.
A Capitol Police spokesperson told the outlet the department is aware of the protest and is working with the Metropolitan Police and Washington Nationals on security.
In 2017, a gunman opened fire on Republicans who were practicing for the annual match, gravely wounding Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.
"We live in a free country, and they have every right to exercise their First Amendment rights," Ryan Thompson, president of Congressional Sports for Charity, told Roll Call. "But the Capitol Police and federal law enforcement are definitely tracking any threats to the game. It's a high-profile event … so they're hyperdiligent."
Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., a coach for the Democrat team, told Roll Call she is sympathetic to Climate Defiance's cause but not its methods.
"I just don't think that disrupting the game really endears people to the issue that these protesters are very passionate about," she said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.