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Chaos erupted during a Senate hearing Wednesday when Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., jumped in to help Capitol Police remove a protester — an encounter that may have left the man injured.
Video of the incident showed Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, stepping in as officers struggled to remove Brian McGinnis, a Marine Corps veteran running as a Green Party candidate for Senate in North Carolina.
Sheehy said in a statement that “Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protester from the Armed Services hearing.”
“He was fighting back. I decided to help out and deescalate the situation,” he said. “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.”
Before the scuffle, McGinnis stood up during a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on the Current Readiness of the Joint Force hearing and shouted, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel.”
Police immediately moved to remove him from the hearing room, with two officers attempting to corral McGinnis. After a struggle, they got him to the exit. That’s where Sheehy stepped in.
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McGinnis grabbed the door and held on, wedging his arm between the door and its frame. As officers and Sheehy pushed to get him to let go, a loud cracking sound could be heard in the video. It was not immediately clear whether his arm was broken during the struggle.
Capitol Police said in a statement that “an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officers’ attempts to remove him from the room.”
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Police said three officers were treated for injuries after working to remove McGinnis. They added that he “got his own arm stuck in a door to resist our officers and force his way back into the hearing room” and was also treated.
McGinnis faces three counts of assault on a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest, and a charge of crowding, obstructing and incommoding related to the unlawful demonstration.
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“Protests are not allowed inside the congressional buildings,” Capitol Police said. “There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed.”
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