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WASHINGTON — Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., helped U.S. Capitol Police officers arrest a man protesting the war in Iran at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Sheehy said on X that Capitol Police tried to remove a protester from the Armed Services hearing. “He was fighting back,” Sheehy said. “I decided to help out and deescalate the situation.”
Sheehy’s post included a repost of an apparent video of the incident, in which three officers and Sheehy aggressively try to remove the man while his hand is stuck in a door frame, appearing to injure him.
As the officers tried to remove him, he yelled out, “No one wants to fight for Israel.” Bystanders in the room called out, “his hand, his hand!”
With the man’s hand stuck in the doorway, the officers eventually put him back down after trying to pull him out of the room. As they did, Sheehy walked away and back toward the front of the room. One bystander asked, “Is your hand OK?” To which the man answered, “No, it’s not.”
Capitol Police identified the man arrested as Brian McGinnis, 44, of North Carolina, who faces three counts of assault on a police officer, as well as three counts of resisting arrest and crowding, obstructing and incommoding in the unlawful demonstration.
McGinnis is running for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina as a Green Party candidate. He is a Marine veteran, according to his campaign website.
The incident happened during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing. Sheehy helped remove McGinnis, who at one point wrapped his hands around the room’s door.
Sheehy’s office directed NBC News to his post when it was asked for further comment on the incident. NBC News has reached out to McGinnis’ campaign for comment.
Capitol Police said in a statement that three officers were treated for injuries.
“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,” the statement said.
McGinnis said in a video Wednesday morning on X, “I’m here in D.C. trying to speak out against the Senate and ask them why they’re going to send our men and women to harm’ way when our elected officials said that it would be no world war.”
“Anybody who feels disillusioned and betrayed by our government, you’re not alone. Join us in demanding accountability for this betrayal,” McGinnis said in the video.
The Capitol Police statement called McGinnis “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 incident happened just before 3 p.m. during a hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building, police said.
“Protests are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings,” Capitol Police added. “There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed.”
Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
Kyla Guilfoil is a breaking news reporter on the politics team for NBC News Digital.
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