A Marine Corps veteran was arrested and treated for a suspected arm injury after being forcibly removed from a US Senate Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, following an outburst in which he shouted anti-war slogans during testimony on military readiness.
Brian McGinnis, who served in the Marine Corps between 2000 and 2004 and has since worked as a firefighter and Green Party political candidate in North Carolina, interrupted the proceedings by standing and shouting phrases including “No one wants to fight for Israel” and “Israel is the reason for this war in Iran.” Capitol Police moved to remove him, assisted by Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana, a former Navy SEAL.
Video footage that circulated widely on social media captured the moment McGinnis grabbed hold of a doorframe while resisting removal. As officers and Sheehy worked to dislodge him, his arm twisted and an audible snapping sound was heard. Bystanders at the scene can be heard exclaiming that a Marine’s hand had been broken. McGinnis was subsequently treated for injuries and arrested, facing charges including three counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest and unlawful demonstration. After being handcuffed, he was heard shouting “Free Palestine.”
Senator Sheehy described his involvement as an effort to de-escalate a situation involving what he characterised as an “unhinged protestor” who was fighting back against police. However, McGinnis’s Green Party spokesman accused Sheehy directly of causing the injury, and the footage has prompted significant debate online, with some viewers arguing the snap occurred in the moments before Sheehy re-engaged and others suggesting McGinnis sustained the injury through his own resistance.
McGinnis later stated he had attended the hearing on behalf of “all Americans who felt betrayed by our government starting another war.”
The hearing, which was examining the current readiness of the US joint military force, resumed shortly after McGinnis was removed. No immediate official comment was issued by the committee, and no formal investigation into the circumstances of his injury has been announced.
The incident has attracted considerable attention online, with one video post accumulating more than 2.6 million views. McGinnis now faces multiple criminal charges, and the question of how his arm injury occurred is expected to remain a point of dispute as his case progresses through the courts.
