Nats Pregame Theatrics Causes Evacuation of Capitol

What a mess.

U.S. Capitol Police evacuated the Capitol complex due to an aircraft that posed a “probable threat.” It  turned out the whole thing was a big misunderstanding that involved the Washington Nationals. The U.S. Army parachute team aircraft was circling the Washington D.C. area waiting to drop its members for tonight’s Nationals game.

Apparently no one communicated that fact to the Capitol Police.

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Per @flightradar24, this U.S. Army parachute team aircraft was circling the area for a while. It’s apparently for tonight’s Nationals game.

It appears that someone forgot to tell USCP, triggering tonight’s evacuation order……… pic.twitter.com/2i8uvlXf4t

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) April 20, 2022

Sources told CNN’s Mike Valerio the parachutists’ mission was not communicated appropriately.

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🚨NEW — Capitol evacuation — Single engine aircraft. Parachutists into Nats Park. Not coordinated appropriately, per two people directly familiar tell @CNN

— Mike Valerio (@ValerioCNN) April 20, 2022

Someone even captured video of the skydivers jumping from the plane:

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6:42 pm 7 skydivers jumped from small plane south of Capitol Hill pic.twitter.com/pW79wtVSeA

— Chef Heff (@mikeheifetz) April 20, 2022

Terrible communication between the Nationals and the Army. It’ll be interesting to see if MLB has any comment on this.

Buildings on the Capitol complex were reopened a little after 8 p.m. The Diamondbacks won the game 11-2.

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