A protester apparently had his hand broken as he was forcibly removed yesterday from a U.S. Senate hearing on the Iran war. A scrum of security personnel struggled to remove Brian McGinnis, a North Carolina resident and a military veteran who was wearing a Marine Corps uniform. U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), who participated in the hearing as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, assisted with removing the protester -- and some online commenters said video of the incident showed Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, helped break McGinnis' hand or arm.
This is a report from Sheehy's home-state newspaper, the Daily Montanan. Under the headline "Montana Sen. Sheehy gets in altercation with anti-war protester, veteran, on Capitol Hill," Micah Drew writes:
Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy got into an altercation with an anti-war protester during a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee meeting that appears to have left the protester with a broken arm.
In a video shared by CBS News’ Alan He, three Capitol Police officers are working to subdue and eject Brian McGinnis, a Marine Corps veteran and Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, who shouts, “No one wants to fight for Israel.”
Sheehy is seen rushing in to help subdue McGinnis, grabbing his lower leg as the Capitol Police attempt to carry him through the hearing room door.
McGinnis hooks one of his arms around the door frame, and Sheehy moves to wrap an arm around McGinnis’ shoulder and pry him away from the door. An audible snap is heard on the video, and it appears that either McGinnis’ lower arm or wrist broke.
U.S. Capitol police alleged that McGinnis engaged in an illegal protest and noted that he would face a series of criminal charges. Might McGinnis have grounds to press criminal charges or file a civil rights/personal-injury lawsuit against Sheehy, whose duties as a member of a senate committee likely do not include assisting with security matters? We do not have an answer to that question at the moment, but one way or another, this incident probably will wind up in court. Drew writes:
Sheehy reposted the video on his own social media account with a statement.
“Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protestor from the Armed Services hearing. He was fighting back. I decided to help out and deescalate 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.”
In another video showing McGinnis being escorted away, he expresses support for a Free Palestine, and the individual filming indicates McGinnis’ arm is broken.
As fallout from the incident, McGinnis definitely will have to tend to legal issues, Drew reports:
In a statement, a public information officer for the Capitol Police said that McGinnis was treated for an injury, but did not specify the injury. The Capitol Police also said three officers had to be treated for injuries.
“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 statement from the Capitol Police said.
According to the Capitol Police, McGinnis faces three counts of assaulting a police officer, and 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,” the statement said.
The Daily Montanan sent questions about the incident to Sheehy’s office, but did not receive an immediate response.
While it would have been best if McGinnis had been able to leave the hearing without being removed by force, the available evidence indicates his behavior stepped outside the boundaries of Senate norms. We do not have access to a video that shows the full incident, but it would have been unusual for a member of the public to be invited to speak. And even if invited to speak, if he became loud or disruptive, security personnel probably would have been within their rights to remove him -- although those rights might not have extended to Sheehy. This is from an AI Overview item about the usual procedure followed at Senate hearings:
While U.S. Senate committee hearings are generally open to the public to attend, private citizens are not typically invited to make live, in-person comments or testimony during the hearings. Instead, participation is curated, with witnesses selected in advance by committee staff, often representing specialized groups, government officials, or experts.
In short, Senate hearings are designed to be orderly, and if McGinnis was disorderly, his defense on the charges against him probably will be difficult.
Here is a brief bio on McGinnis from timesnownews.com:
Brian McGinnis is a former Marine who served from 2000 to 2004, participating in the initial Iraq invasion and later joining the All-Marine boxing team. After his military service, he pursued an education degree. His recent protest in the Senate highlighted his opposition to military actions involving Israel.
On X (formerly Twitter), commenters tended to be supportive of McGinnis and critical of Sheehy: Here is a sampling:
(1) From "Adam" -- BREAKING 
MARINE: “NO ONE WANTS TO DIE FOR ISRAEL”
Reports that they BROKE his hand. This is a patriot.
(2) From "Eh, What's Up, Doc" -- U.S. Marine Brian McGinnis. Imagine serving as a Marine and then being injured at home, on purpose, by a sitting Senator while exercising your constitutionally-protected rights. got dragged out of a senate hearing for standing up and saying what everyone is thinking.
(3) From "never again is happening now" -- What is wrong with America?
Why are we are NORMALIZING VIOLENCE toward protesters?
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