Brian McGinnis, a former Marine, on Wednesday was dragged out of a congressional hearing on the war in Iran, shouting as Capitol Hill police pulled him from the room, “No one wants to fight for Israel.”
Approximately 30 minutes into the hearing on the preparedness of troops for war in Iran, McGinnis, wearing a military uniform, stands and shouts, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel.”
As several Capitol Hill police attempted to force McGinnis out of the room, Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy (R) jumped in to assist at the doorway of the room, as they lifted the protester by the limbs.
As McGinnis resisted, and his arm appeared to get stuck between the door and the frame, and his arm audibly and visibly snapped under the pressure of police and Sheehy continuing to force his body out of the room with his arm still jammed in the door frame.
Sheehy then leaves to return to his seat in the audience, while McGinnis is brought to his feet and removed. McGinnis is heard saying his arm is broken when asked if he is okay.
***Warning — disturbing images in the clips below.
Brian McGinnis is running for Senate in North Carolina as a Green Party candidate. His campaign manager, Mark Elbourno, stated that McGinnis was arrested and transported to George Washington University Hospital.
In a statement, U.S. Capitol Police said McGinnis is facing three counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest and one count of crowding, obstructing and incommoding — meaning he was allegedly blocking an entrance or passageway — for interrupting the committee hearing.
Elbourno denied that McGinnis, who now works as a firefighter, assaulted police officers. “He wasn’t assaulting anybody. … He just wanted to be heard [and was] speaking loud and clear,” he told CBS News. “He was assaulted, actually. They broke his arm.”
Sheehy, who defeated Jon Tester in Montana in 2024, posted to X:
Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protestor from the Armed Services hearing. He was fighting back. I decided to help out and deescalate the situation. This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one. I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence.