Activists Planning To Protest The Washington Capitals And Washington Wizards Leaving DC And Moving A Few Miles Away

Late last year it was revealed that the NHL's Washington Capitals and NBA's Washington Wizards will move out of the District of Columbia to Alexandria, Virginia.

That's just a few miles away, but some activists are not having it.

Ron Moten, a DC activist and co-founder of "Don't Mute DC," said the group plans to demonstrate against the decision on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

"We’re shutting it now. We’re letting (Capitals and Wizards owner) Ted Leonsis know, we’re going to stop the move or stop business as usual," Moten said.

It's not the fact that catching a Caps or Wizards game will mean riding through a few extra Metro stops. Moten said he and his group are unhappy about the economic impact of the teams leaving DC.

"We feel like we’ve been betrayed," Moten told FOX 5. "What he’s planning to do would be devastating to DC economy, not just for tax purposes but job-purposes. A lot of people East of the River, where he made a lot of promises East of the River would be affected."

You can understand the frustration. But if there was an incentive to keep the team in DC proper, you've got to think they'd stay there.

Back in November, Leonsis tried to keep the team in town. He asked for $600 million to gussie up his teams' current home, Capital One Arena. Obviously, he didn't get it, and so the teams are moving somewhere else.

It's a business, plain and simple. There appears to be an incentive to move the team outside to Northern, Virginia.

One of those incentives appears to be a brand-spankin' new arena. One that is surrounded by an entertainment district.

And in an area without DC crime.

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