WASHINGTON—Eight climate activists arrested after storming the field at the annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park and held overnight were released from jail Thursday afternoon and face federal charges.

Under blue skies in a light breeze Wednesday evening, the activists from the direct-action group Climate Defiance jumped from the stands over a rail and onto the field, wearing t-shirts that read “end fossil fuels.” They were immediately tackled and held to the ground by U.S. Capitol Police and stadium security. Approximately eight more activists stayed chanting in the stands.

Those arrested on the field face federal charges for interference with the U.S. Capitol Police and were held in jail overnight.

Climate Defiance has been promising for months to shut down the annual event, which pits teams of Democratic and Republican members of Congress against one another to raise money for local charities. The group aimed to draw attention to the climate crisis and call on members of Congress to end fossil fuel subsidies, including century-old tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

“Congress is out there playing games, hitting a baseball around, and…actively pouring fuel on the fire of climate disaster by funding or subsidizing the fossil fuel industry tens of billions of dollars a year,” said Evan Drukker-Schardl, a Climate Defiance member and lead organizer for the action.

The protesters who entered the field were swiftly restrained by police and security, some held face-down in the dirt before being taken into custody. On X, activists condemned the police officers’ tactics.

“We were brutalized tonight—beaten and bruised as we took over the Congressional Baseball game,” Climate Defiance wrote in the caption for a video of the action. “Our bodies are bloodied but our spirits are unmoved. We will build a better world.”

In a thread on X the same night, the U.S. Capitol Police supported its officers’ actions.

“We are proud of our officers who are working to keep everyone safe during tonight’s Congressional Baseball Game for Charity,” the account wrote, adding that the police were aware of the plans for a protest and had prepared to respond swiftly.

Activists said the arrested protesters were released Thursday on a promise to return for court. 

The Climate Defiance group included local activists from D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia as well as some who had traveled from New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts.

Before the game began, a larger group of Climate Defiance activists staged a rally outside of Nationals Park, chanting “end fossil fuels,” as guests entered the stadium.

As he walked onto the field to warm up, U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) expressed disdain toward activists’ promise to protest the game.

“Can’t they leave it alone, can’t they just let us come together for one night without ruining everything?” said Bean, who is a proponent of increased domestic oil and gas production. 

The Congressional Baseball Game has been a bipartisan charity event since 1909. The Congressional Sports for Charity Foundation stated that this year’s game broke 2023’s attendance and fundraising records, selling more than 30,000 tickets and raising more than $2.2 million for charities in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, including the Washington Literacy Center and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. 

The event has more than 100 sponsors, including oil and gas giant Chevron, social media company Meta, commercial solar energy company Summit Ridge Energy and the Koch-funded conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity. Climate Defiance expressed outrage about Chevron’s involvement, calling the oil company an “ecocidal, death cult fossil fuel company” on X.

The disruption of the baseball game was 23-year-old Lucia Pieto’s first action with Climate Defiance. Pieto, who didn’t get arrested on the field, gained interest in climate action when her father, a Pittsburgh native, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and began learning about research studies that found potential links between his disease and high exposures to pollution from industry in places like his hometown.

The night before the game, Pieto joined a group of eleven activists for the first of two non-violent direct action training sessions in preparation for disrupting the game. In a series of improvised skits and drills, they practiced linking arms to stay steady while getting pushed or dragged by police, and staying calm while getting yelled at by other members of the group who acted as hostile observers.

After the training, Pieto felt a mix of excitement and nerves. 

“I feel like I know what to expect a little bit more,” she said.

But after the action, Pieto said that she wasn’t prepared for what happened. Capitol police were anticipating the activists arrival and were prepared for immediate arrests. Pieto, who did not get arrested, said that she hadn’t expected federal charges for the protesters who entered the field. 

She said she felt both support and hostility from the stands. 

“It made a lot of people angry, but while we were rushing the stands, spectators were chanting along with us,” Pieto said, recalling the protesters’ run through the stands toward the field. “I hope more people begin to see the value in disruption. There were so many different types of people involved with our action they can’t keep calling us misguided kids.”

Climate Defiance wasn’t the only group that used the game as an opportunity for political speech. Before the game started, six people stood up during the national anthem and chanted “free Palestine” while holding a banner that read, “Stop Arming Israel.”

Soon after that protest began, the crowd started chanting “U.S.A,” and cheered as police ripped the banners from the protesters hands and removed them from the stadium.

Chevron has been a target of both pro-Palestine and environmental justice activists, who have rallied around calls from the Palestinian Boycott Divest Sanction National Committee to uphold a consumer-boycott of Chevron for its natural gas production activities in Israel. Calls to uphold the boycott of Chevron are part of a campaign targeting Israel’s economic power in protest of its occupation and violations of Palestinians’ civic and human rights.

Climate Defiance also interrupted last year’s Congressional Women’s Softball Game for nearly 10 minutes, but the activists were not arrested. Two years ago, prior to starting Climate Defiance, founder Michael Greenberg was part of a group of climate activists who organized a disruption of the Congressional Baseball Game, which he said helped inspire Climate Defiance’s tactic of targeting high-profile political events. 

After U.S. Capitol Police removed protesters on Wednesday, officers lined the edge of the field for the rest of the game. In the stands, reviews of the action were mixed.

One attendee who was sitting in the section where the protesters staged their disruption, and who declined to be named, said the action was “downright stupid,” and made her “extremely upset.” 

Mo Sullivan, another attendee, thought it was an effective tactic.

“It was a good opportunity, a good way to expose the issue to a large audience,” Sullivan, who said she works for the animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said. “It’s a peaceful way to talk about something serious.”

Leaders of Climate Defiance say they always aim to reach a broader audience away from the demonstrations themselves—the group has drummed up support and notoriety for wide-reaching social media videos that often find a sympathetic audience online.

“As with all of our actions, our audience is the public,” Drukker-Schardl said. “We need to demonstrate just how corrupt and backwards the status quo is and how much harm it’s doing to everyday people.”

The night before the game, Climate Defiance had planned a disruption of a fundraiser slated to feature Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) to protest her move to halt plans for congestion pricing in New York City that would disincentivize car commuting in an attempt to curb transportation emissions. 

When Hochul announced that she would not attend the fundraiser, Climate Defiance moved its action to Pershing Cafe, a diner in New York that Hochul cited as a destination for commuters from New Jersey while defending her opposition to congestion pricing.