Republican senator joined Capitol Police as they violently ejected an anti-war protester and U.S. Marine veteran from an Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, appearing to break his arm as the group tried to wrestle him out of the chamber.

Video of the incident shows Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana, rushing over to help police as they try to tug and push the protester out of the chamber, as the protester yells, “no one wants to fight for Israel.” The protester appears to be wearing a U.S. Marine Corps dress uniform.

The protester, Green Party candidate Brian McGinnis, has his hand stuck in the door frame, with his arm hooked around the adjacent open door panel as several police try to force him out of the room. Sheehy lifts up McGinnis’s leg as police officers grab his torso and tug.

As Sheehy is moving over to dislodge the protester’s hand and tug on his arm, McGinnis’s forearm can be seen appearing to snap in half. There is a loud cracking sound, and bystanders begin to yell at the police to stop. Shortly after, officers let up on their tugging, and begin to work to dislodge McGinnis’s hand, as Sheehy returns to the front of the room.

“The senator broke his hand. A sitting U.S. senator just broke the hand of a Marine,” one person yells. One bystander asks McGinnis, “is your hand ok?”

"No it’s not,” McGinnis responds. McGinnis is running for Senate in North Carolina, and is a Marine who fought in Iraq, according to his campaign website.

Police arrested McGinnis and have charged him with three counts of assault on a police officer, and three counts of resisting arrest and crowding, obstructing, and incommoding for his demonstration.

In a statement posted on McGinnis’s X account, his family expressed gratitude for the well wishes. “We are taking a necessary step back from the public eye to allow him to focus fully on his recovery in private,” the statement said.

The protest occurred during a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, held to hear testimony from military officials on the readiness of various military branches for combat. The hearing was scheduled before the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

“America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel,” McGinnis said as he protested the hearing. “This is wrong.”

Sheehy called McGinnis an “unhinged protester,” and claimed on social media that he was trying to “help out and deescalate the situation,” ignoring that he helped lift McGinnis off the ground, potentially helping to break his arm.

“This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one,” Sheehy said, though McGinnis was merely protesting the hearing.

  • Innerworld@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    McGinnis now faces three counts of assaulting a police officer and three counts of resisting arrest and crowding, obstructing, and incommoding in an unlawful demonstration.

  • HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com
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    13 hours ago

    That a republican senator from Montana did this is totally on brand. Mofo will probably brag about it during his next election cycle.

    Disgusting.

  • D_C@sh.itjust.works
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    23 hours ago

    Whenever I de-escalate a situation I always break the arms of the people that are protesting. And, frankly, they should be grateful that I don’t get my gun out and de-escalate things by shooting them!

    On a more serious point. What can the victim do now? Legally can he go for the senator?

    • GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      If I were a personal injury lawyer, his phone would be ringing off the hook. Sheehy is not a peace officer, he’s an elected public official. He had no authority to physically assault someone who posed no threat to him. His ass is fucking grass.

    • Reiterate9120@lemmy.org
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      14 hours ago

      Senators are federal therefore sovereign (Qualified immunity)

      The pigs are probably federal as well.

      The deck is heavily stacked not in the peoples favour, but hopefully the ACLU and institute for justice can acheive the impossible if they can take this on.

  • Uranus_Hz@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    Looks like the Senator is interfering with a law enforcement operation. According to the federal government, that’s justification to be shot many many times. Like Alex Pretti was.

  • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    1 day ago

    “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel,” McGinnis said as he protested the hearing. “This is wrong.”

    Sheehy called McGinnis an “unhinged protester,” and claimed on social media that he was trying to “help out and deescalate the situation,” ignoring that he helped lift McGinnis off the ground, potentially helping to break his arm.

    10/10 gaslighting. Starting a war in order to intentionally put the U.S. in danger, breaking a marine’s arm for exercising the rights he put his life on the line for, and charging him with a crime is completely rational.

    You mean you don’t want to die, and potentially destroy the entire world to help wealthy pedophiles cling to power?? “This guy’s fucking unhinged!”

    • Brave Little Hitachi Wand@feddit.uk
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      1 day ago

      The guy videoing the scene breaks my heart. Shouting at the sitting men who wouldn’t even turn to look at the injured man. Ignoring being called robots. Everyone pretending to not have a soul, probably afraid to be caught having a soul while MAGA watched.

    • homes@piefed.world
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      1 day ago

      Starting a war in order to intentionally put the U.S. in danger

      See, it’s not even that simple/shitty/stupid. Israel was going to attack, so we jumped in to back them up. Because it’s what Bibi has wanted to for 49 years, and he kissed Trump’s ass until he got it.

      The latest bullshit they’re shoveling is to say Trump ordered the attack because of “a feeling”. Seriously…

    • meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      I’m always wondering with situations like these… In civil law you have the notion of a frivolous lawsuit to fight back against people trying to attack you through clearly unfounded claims using the court system.

      What about criminal law? Is there any recourse against a prosecutor or at least the state bringing in these clearly false charges and using it as a weapon to supress dissent and terrorizing a populace into submission?

  • Tempus Fugit@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Republicans have no problem sending your kids to die in their wars. You’re just fodder to them. Another asset to utilize. A pawn if you will. The minute you become a liability by needing medical or mental health assistance, you’re cast aside like a broken toy. Now that’s the American dream…

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            22 hours ago

            I’m a fascist because I don’t read the publications you do

            And you’re complaining about strawmen??

            I didn’t call YOU a fascist, I correctly characterized the apartheid regime you’re caping for as fascist.

            As for the links, I didn’t get them by “reading publications”, they were all on the first page of a duckduckgo search for “resistance to Iran war is antisemitic”. Took me a couple seconds including the page loading abnormally slowly.

            Honestly people who come at me so hard like this when they don’t even know what I meant can get fucked.

            Says the world class hypocrite who came at the other commenter hard for a nonexistent strawman argument 🙄

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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              18 hours ago

              Again you have no idea what was meant and I have zero reason to explain myself. I remember your hateful ass from previous fun times. Blocked.

              • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                18 hours ago

                Again you have no idea what was meant

                If so, you didn’t express yourself clearly. That’s on you.

                I have zero reason to explain myself

                Yeah, because it’s much more fun to blather a bunch of nonsense and then claim unfairness when others call you on it 🙄

                I remember your hateful ass from previous fun times

                Back at you 🤷

                Blocked

                Oh no! Whatever will I do without your nonsense?! Woe is me!

                you’re not a fucking hippie, you’re about as opposite to a fucking hippie as can be

                And how would you know? It’s not like you’ve shown a capacity to not be ludicrously wrong about everything in any of our exchanges 🤷

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Hey genius, you saw comments to a single person who literally proved themselves to be anti-semitic. Learn to read.

          I love lazy sleuths who think 15 seconds makes them some expert on my life. lol

          Weird how this modlog page took 15 seconds to pull up also and mods seem to agree that fuck is anti-semitic.

          I cannot actually remember the last time I called anyone anti-semitic on here and would only have done so if they made a comment about “the Jews”. So out of line, I know. Huge zionist, yep.

          Thanks for your “help”

  • aeration1217@lemmy.org
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    1 day ago

    “[I] came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and [I] got one,” Sheehy said

    these cowards can only take a cheap shot. I hope he gets his little balls sued off himself