Sen. Sheehy steps in: ‘Unhinged’ activist’s arm snaps as Capitol Police intervene in Senate hearing gone wild

A Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing regarding the readiness of the U.S. military was interrupted on Wednesday by a bone-breaking scuffle.

Brian McGinnis, a Marine veteran and firefighter who is running as a Green Party candidate to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, noted in a video taken before the hearing that he intended to ask lawmakers “why they’re going to send our men and women to harm’s way when our elected officials said that there would be no world war.”

Wearing his Marine Corps dress uniform, McGinnis interrupted the hearing with a condemnation of America’s involvement in Iran, shouting, “No one wants to fight for Israel,” and, “Stand up for America.”

‘This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one.’

The Capitol Police said in a statement obtained by the Daily Montanan, “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.”

In footage captured by CBS News’ Alan He, multiple USCP officers can be seen forcefully ejecting McGinnis from the room with the help of Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy (R), who can be seen grabbing McGinnis’ leg and trying to pull him out the door.

Sen. Sheehy, a decorated Navy SEAL veteran who partook in numerous combat deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, said in a statement, “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.”

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Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Footage of the struggle published by Code Pink, a leftist anti-war group co-founded by former Democratic political activist Jodie Evans, shows McGinnis insert his arm through one doorway while the rest of his person is being forced through an adjacent doorway.

Sheehy can be seen wrapping his arm around McGinnis’ shoulder in an apparent effort to free the protester’s arm — now trapped by the closing second door — while the officers tug at the protester’s legs.

A loud snap can be heard, prompting an onlooker to yell, “His hand! His hand!” and another individual off-screen to utter, “Oh my God.”

Amid groans from onlookers, a man off-screen yells, “The senator broke his hand! A sitting U.S. senator just broke the hand of a Marine.”

Upon realizing that McGinnis’ arm was indeed stuck, the officers momentarily stopped pulling to help Sheehy dislodge the broken limb.

When asked whether his hand was OK, McGinnis said, “No, it’s not.” He later noted on X that his arm was broken.

While being escorted out of the building, McGinnis — who married a Palestinian and volunteered in 2024 for the pro-Palestinian “Freedom Flotilla Coalition” — shouted, “Free Palestine! From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, Palestine will be free!”

The USCP confirmed that the protester was treated for an injury and now faces three counts of assaulting a police officer and three counts of “resisting arrest and crowding, obstructing, and incommoding for the unlawful demonstration.”

Sheehy noted on X, “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.”

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