WASHINGTON – A Green Party Senate candidate and former Marine was injured during a chaotic confrontation with U.S. Capitol Police and Republican Senator Tim Sheehy while protesting U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran at a Senate Armed Services hearing on Wednesday.
Brian McGinnis, 44, a North Carolina candidate who served four years in the Marines after high school, burst into the hearing shouting, “Israel is the reason for this war, America does not want to fight for Israel.” Dressed in military uniform, he disrupted proceedings amid rising public anger over the conflict that erupted Saturday, when U.S. and Israeli forces targeted sites across Iran, prompting Iranian retaliation against Israel and Gulf Arab states.
Reuters-verified video captured officers and Montana Senator Sheehy dragging McGinnis from a doorway, where his hand became trapped in the door hinge. “No one wants to fight for Israel,” he yelled, as a cracking sound echoed and onlookers alerted authorities to his pinned arm.
Sheehy later posted on X that he intervened to “deescalate” the situation, describing McGinnis as an “unhinged protester” seeking confrontation. Capitol Police reported three officers received treatment for injuries, while McGinnis, who resisted arrest by wedging his arm in the door, was also treated on site.
McGinnis, a firefighter and father of four according to his campaign site, faces charges of assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing an unlawful demonstration. The extent of his injuries remains unclear, and he did not respond to requests for comment.