Baseball fans are gathering in Seattle ahead of the MLB’s All-Star Game on Tuesday, which is expected to garner protests from activists and homeless individuals in the city.
“All-Star weekend, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Washington resident Chris told Fox News Digital, explaining he believes the city has done a “good job” on keep the area around the stadium safe and clean.
Seattle is anticipating to welcome thousands of people to the city on Tuesday, when players from the American League and National League go head-to-head at T-Mobile Park.
Ahead of the festivities for the big game, news broke that activists were planning to stage a protest early Tuesday morning by moving RV homeless encampments near the stadium.
Last week, homeless individuals living in RVs in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood were notified by the city to move their belongings.
Soon after, fliers advertising a planned protest were dispersed in the area calling on people to move their RVs towards the stadium after midnight Tuesday.
“F–k baseball. F–k this mayor. F–k this city,” the flier read, according to the Daily Caller. “Let’s f–k their day up.”
“They’ve been pushing us around for months hoping to clear us out sight for the MLB All-Star Game on July 11 – Let’s make sure their work was for nothing!” the flier continued.
The flier stated that once the protest was in full-swing after midnight on Tuesday, they would throw a “little party” in celebration of “getting one back on the city.”
The majority of people who spoke to Fox News Digital outside the stadium, however, said they had not heard of the protest and were overall happy with how city was handling the influx of visitors for the Midsummer Classic.
“We come down fairly often [to Seattle]. It’s a big city and with big cities, you have big city problems. But I think overall, we haven’t experienced anything,” Washington native Tom said, adding he had not heard about the RV protest.
“I have three kids, and my two boys are nine and five, and they are in love with all things baseball and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tom added.
Dominic, of Washington, said he was outside the stadium Monday to “enjoy the whole experience of the All-Star festivities” and “hopefully meet a few legends.”
Dominic added that the “vibe” of Seattle was “pretty normal” for a large event and that a potential protest “could” interfere with the game, though he had not heard about the protest.
“It’s just like anything. Any big event is going to bring protesters,” he said. “You just have to roll with the flow.”
Alice, who is also from the Seattle area, said a potential protest might disturb festivities, but that the big game will likely outweigh any disruptions from an RV protest.
“People are here for the game, and they’re going to be wrapped up in how the Home Run Derby goes today. It might impact people’s opinion of Seattle, but they’re here for the game,” Alice said.
Amid news reports of the protest, the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital last week that the notices telling the RV owners to move had nothing to do with the big game and instead was a planned RV “remediation” in the SODO neighborhood.
“The city’s homelessness response has had a steady and consistent focus on SODO over the last year and a half due to a high concentration of RVs and tents. We have not changed this process or approach in the lead up to the All-Star Game,” the mayor’s office said at the time.
The Emerald City last hosted the All-Star game in 2001, which Seattle resident Tony cited when highlighting why people should be out celebrating.
“It’s been 20 something years since we’ve had it here, so who knows when it’s going to come back again,” Tony said, noting that people from across the country were visiting.
“It’s just great. I mean, people have no problem coming to Seattle, they seem to love it. It’s a great destination city.”
