A U.S. Navy veteran intervened on Wednesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the Capitol to protest Washington's military intervention in Iran, repeatedly shouting that "nobody wants to fight for Israel."
When he tried to express his opinion on the war in Iran, the man was violently subdued by the Capitol Police and dragged out of the room. The protester ended up with a broken arm in front of the stunned gaze of everyone present. No one moved to help him.
The protagonist was Brian McGinnis, a former Marine sergeant, who interrupted the session from the area designated for the public while legislators were debating the war currently being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.
"Israel is the reason for this war. Americans do not want to fight for Israel. The United States should not finance a war for Israel. (...) This is a mistake. No one wants to fight a war for Israel," he shouted as he was violently subdued by up to three officers.
McGinnis is the Green Party candidate for the Senate in North Carolina. He attended the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support hearing to express his opposition to military action against Iran.
During the scuffle, Republican Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana joined the officials to remove the protester from the hall. The images capture the moment when the legislator and several officers hold McGinnis while he continues chanting anti-war slogans.
The United States Senate ultimately rejected this Wednesday the bill to stop the war against Iran. The initiative, known as a resolution on war powers, resulted in a tally of 47 votes in favor and 53 against.
Military escalation between the United States, Israel, and Iran
The incident occurs amidst a rapid escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has already claimed over a thousand lives and threatens to spread throughout the region.
The war began on February 28 with a coordinated attack by the United States and Israel against Iranian military installations, in operations referred to as “Roaring Lion” by Tel Aviv and “Epic Fury” by Washington.
The alleged trigger was the collapse of the nuclear negotiations in Geneva, amid diplomatic efforts to limit Tehran's ballistic missile program.
In the initial attack, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 86, died along with his wife and a 14-month-old granddaughter. According to figures released by Israel, over 1,200 munitions were launched in the first 24 hours against more than 900 targets in Iranian territory.
Iran intensifies threats and attacks
Tehran responded with the so-called "Operation True Promise 4", launching over 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones against Israel and several U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
Amid escalating tensions, Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli, an influential cleric of the Iranian Shiite establishment, publicly called for violence against Washington during a broadcast aired by state television.
"Fight against the oppressor United States; their blood is on my shoulders," stated the religious leader. He explicitly called for "the shedding of Trump's blood" and that of the Israeli government.
We are on the sixth day of a conflict that Washington estimates could last between four and five weeks, but the scale of the war is rapidly increasing. The duration is likely to be much longer and involve more governments.
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