A dramatic confrontation inside a U.S. Senate hearing room Wednesday left an activist with a broken arm and criminal charges.
The incident occurred during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building. Lawmakers were hearing testimony on military readiness and U.S. operations abroad when anti-war protester Brian McGinnis stood up in the gallery and began shouting opposition to the military campaign against Iran. Witnesses said McGinnis, a Marine Corps veteran from North Carolina who is running for the Senate as a Green Party candidate, yelled that Americans should not be sent to war for Israel.
Capitol Police quickly moved to remove him from the room for disrupting the hearing. Video from the scene shows McGinnis resisting as officers attempted to escort him out. At one point he grabbed onto a doorway, apparently trying to prevent being removed.
During the struggle, Tim Sheehy, a Republican and former Navy SEAL who was present at the hearing, rushed toward the doorway and joined officers attempting to pull McGinnis free. Images and video footage show the senator trying to pry the protestor away from the door her was holding on to. A lawmaker getting involved in the work of Capitol police is unusual regardless of their background.
Moments later, witnesses reported hearing what sounded like a bone snapping.
"A U.S. Senator just broke the hand of a Marine," one attendee shouted, apparently thinking the hand received the injury.
As Sheehy walked away someone else said, "You're a coward."
The altercation has quickly turned into a legal and political dispute. U.S. Capitol Police said McGinnis “violently resisted” removal from the chamber and allegedly injured officers during the struggle. Authorities charged him with three counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest, and unlawful demonstration.
McGinnis and some supporters, however, have accused Sheehy of using excessive force and claim the senator was responsible for breaking the protester’s hand or arm during the encounter. Sheehy has denied those accusations, saying he stepped in only to assist law enforcement and help de-escalate the situation.
The clash highlights rising tensions surrounding U.S. military action in Iran and the increasingly volatile atmosphere around war policy debates in Washington.