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By Gabe Whisnant
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A protester and three U.S. Capitol Police officers were treated for injuries Wednesday after a man disrupted a Senate hearing and resisted officers’ attempts to remove him from a Senate office building, authorities said.
The protester, identified by police as Brian C. McGinnis of North Carolina, was arrested and faces three counts of assaulting a police officer, along with three more related to resisting arrest and participating in an unlawful demonstration, the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement.
Montana Republican Senator Tim Sheehy, a member of the Armed Services panel and former Navy SEAL, stepped in to assist officers as McGinnis, a Marine veteran dressed in a military uniform, clung to the door.
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Senate Armed Services Committee Incident: What to Know
Multiple videos from the hearing show McGinnis standing and shouting during a Senate Armed Services Committee session before officers moved quickly to restrain him. As police attempted to escort him from the room, McGinnis shouted opposition to the U.S. military campaign in Iran, yelling, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel!”
The officers pulled McGinnis toward the exit as he resisted and grabbed onto a doorway, bracing himself while they tried to remove him. Video shows Sheehy attempting to pry McGinnis’ arm free as other protesters shouted that McGinnis’ hand was stuck.
Capitol Police said McGinnis “got his own arm stuck in a door to resist our officers and force his way back into the hearing room.” McGinnis was treated for injuries, though their nature was not specified, authorities added, and three officers were also treated for injuries.
Capitol Police said demonstrations are not permitted inside congressional buildings.
“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 officers’ attempts to remove him from the room,” Capitol Police said.
A video posted earlier Wednesday on an account bearing McGinnis’ name shows a man identifying himself as a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate standing outside the Capitol before the hearing. In the video, he said he had come to Washington to protest Senate actions related to war.
“Anyone who feels disillusioned and betrayed by our government, you are not alone,” he said.
Newsweek has reached out to the Green Party and U.S. Capitol Police via email on Wednesday night for comment.
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Tim Sheehy Reacts to Senate Confrontation
Sheehy later reposted the video on social media, describing McGinnis as an “unhinged protestor” who was fighting back as Capitol Police attempted to remove him from the hearing.
“I decided to help out and deescalate the situation,” Sheehy wrote on X. “This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one.”
The first-term senator said in a statement to NBC News Montana, "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. The outburst happened just before 3:00 p.m., during a hearing inside the Hart Senate Office Building. Three officers had to be treated for injuries by DC Fire & EMS. 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 suspect, 44-year-old Brian C. McGinnis of NC is facing three counts of Assault on a Police Officer, as well as three counts of Resisting Arrest, and Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding for the unlawful demonstration. Protests are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings. There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed.”
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Updates: 3/4/26, 7:50 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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