Army veteran’s arm snaps after he’s removed from debate for protesting war
A veteran who was protesting a meeting at the US Capitol yesterday had a bone broken by a Senator while speaking out against the war in Iran.
Footage posted by anti-war women’s group Code Pink showed the protester, identified as Former US Marine Sergeant Brian McGinnis, shouting as he was dragged out.
As he interrupted a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, he yelled: ‘No one wants to fight for Israel.’
Republican Senator Tim Sheehy, from Montana, joined in the chaos when an audible ‘snap’ was heard, and it was reported that either McGinnis’s arm or hand broke.
The US veteran kept yelling: ‘Free Palestine, from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, Palestine will be free,’ in reference to the Marine Corps’ song.
Senator Sheehy told the veteran ‘Go f**k yourself’ as guards led him out of the room.
Security personnel later escorted McGinnis down the hallway, where he was seen seated against a wall as additional officers surrounded him.
Senator Sheehy later posted: ‘Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protester from the Armed Services hearing. He was fighting back. I decided to help out and de-escalate the situation.
‘This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one. I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence.’
Still, the encounter has been slammed by veterans’ rights activists, with podcaster Paul Rieckhoff writing: ‘This is very, very ugly.
‘And no U.S. senator needs to inject himself into this situation. For the safety of everyone, including himself.
‘Just unnecessary and terrible to watch. This is what an America falling apart looks like.’
Trump’s base of supporters has overwhelmingly supported the military intervention in Iran, but thousands of Americans have still taken to the streets to protest what they see as an unsanctioned war.
Washington, Minnesota, Miami, Denver, Boston, Atlanta and other US cities saw thousands take to the streets against the military ‘special operation’.
Organisers of the marches wrote: ‘Trump’s unprovoked, illegal attack on Iran is an act of war that threatens to cause unthinkable death and destruction.
‘But the people of this country reject another endless war and will take to the streets now and make our voices heard.’
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