While there were long lines of people waiting to enter the game, it was not clear the protest had much impact on the attendees. Stadium workers opened other entry points to allow access.
Organizers behind the protest had to reformulate their plans more than 24 hours before the game after the announcement of an agreement between Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a spending package aimed at lowering health-care costs, combat climate change and reduce the federal deficit. Most of the new spending is focused on climate change and clean energy production.
Outside the Thursday evening game, activists said they supported the agreement, but remained skeptical. Demonstrators speaking to the crowd urged President Biden to declare a climate emergency to exercise executive power on additional climate investment, saying they believe the agreement was not enough.
Sourish Dey, 17, a spokesperson for the activists, said additional action is vital.
“We took in-your-face actions because Congress has failed to take serious action,” Dey said. “They’ve known about this crisis since well before I was born.”
One of the key reasons behind the protest was to put pressure on Manchin, who said more than two weeks ago that he would not support investments to deal with climate change, fearing that the spending would exacerbate inflation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.