Republican Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy physically removed a left-wing protester from the Senate chamber Wednesday after the demonstrator allegedly tried to start an altercation.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, was seen working with Capitol Police officers to hoist away a resisting Brian McGinnis, 44, from a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing while the protester loudly shouted “No one wants to fight for Israel!” according to a viral video filmed by an antiwar activist and posted to X by CBS News’ Alan He. McGinnis is currently the left-wing Green Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. According to his campaign website, McGinnis is a Marine Corps veteran and firefighter.
As Sheehy and officers struggled to pull the candidate out of the hearing room, McGinnis appeared to latch his left hand on the door in an apparent attempt to remain in his current location.
“His hand! His hand!” a female voice yelled in the background.
“Sir, let go of the door,” a Capitol Police officer was heard saying, as McGinnis continued to grasp its side.
“A senator broke his hand!” a male voice shouted. “A sitting U.S. senator just broke the hand of a Marine! Control your Senate!”
WATCH:
Senator Sheehy joined Capitol Police in lifting up and ejecting anti war protestor Brian McGinnis from a SASC subcommittee hearing. McGinnis is a Green Party candidate running for Senate in N.C. An antiwar activist filmed the video below: pic.twitter.com/0dVA0ORWXQ
— Alan He (@alanhe) March 4, 2026
McGinnis then told the officer that his hand was stuck, as the same male heckler began to repeat that a senator, presumably Sheehy, broke his hand.
Later in the video a man asked McGinnis if his hand was OK, to which he responded, “No, it’s not.”
“This is disgusting!” a woman said, while another man quipped, “Just pull it out!”
“Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protestor from the Armed Services hearing. He was fighting back,” Sheehy wrote in an X post responding to He’s video. “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,” the Montana Republican added.
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… https://t.co/MU1THo8fKA
— Tim Sheehy (@TimSheehyMT) March 4, 2026
“This afternoon, an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing, put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officer’s attempts to remove him from the room,” the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) said in a statement shared on X by Fox News Chief Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram.
“The outburst happened just before 3:00 p.m., during a hearing inside the Hart Senate Office Building. Three officers had to be treated for injuries by DC Fire & EMS,” the USCP’s statement added. “The suspect, who got his own arm stuck in a door to resist our officers and force his way back into the hearing room, was also treated.”
McGinnis is “facing three counts of Assault on a Police Officer, as well as three counts of Resisting Arrest, and Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding for the unlawful demonstration,” according to the USCP’s statement.
USCP on incident where GOP MT Sen Sheehy helped officers remove protestor from hearing: “This afternoon, an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing, put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officer’s attempts to remove him…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 4, 2026
“Protests are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings. There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed,” the statement concluded.
Sheehy’s office, when asked for additional comment, referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the statement from the Capitol Police.
McGinnis did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
The Senate Republican Conference’s X account quickly backed up their fellow member, writing in a post to the platform, “Don’t disrupt congressional proceedings. Especially don’t resist law enforcement. And most especially when Tim Sheehy is around.”
The altercation took place four days after the U.S. and Israel jointly carried out strikes on Iran that resulted in the deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials in the Islamic theocracy.
Sheehy was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024 when he unseated three-term incumbent Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester by seven percentage points.
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