@miss_malaska tweets us:

“calling for backup and arresting 4 attorneys @ rec softball on the #Mall”

A reader also forwards an email:

“…as my team was leaving the Mall yesterday, there were 3 park police cop cars by a softball team (not our league) on the ellipse. 4 softball players were handcuffed in the back of the car. We asked the team what happened, and they said the cops came over and said they had warned teams about beer last week and were arresting people for open containers this week. Not tickets, not citations, HANDCUFFED IN COP CARS.

While this offends me on so many levels (this is an arrestable offense? you warn one softball player and assume everyone has been warned? etc), I strongly recommend you DO NOT drink beer on the Ellipse. So far I haven’t seen any action taken on the Mall side of Constitution but be careful.”