The North Carolina Green Party is applauding its U.S. Senate candidate Brian McGinnis for remarks he made during a congressional hearing earlier this month that led to his physical removal from the chamber and resulted in him breaking his arm.
In a statement published on its homepage following the March 4 incident, the party praised McGinnis, a Marine Corps veteran, for interrupting a hearing of a subcommittee of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee to protest U.S. involvement in the war between Israel and Iran. The party said McGinnis had spoken “the truth powerfully” and that it “salutes” him for his effort.
“His words represent the views of the majority of Americans who reject this war,” the statement read. “According to a recent CNN poll, 59% of Americans disapprove of the US strikes on Iran.”
The party also demanded accountability from Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana, who physically involved himself in the altercation resulting in McGinnis’ removal and subsequent injury.
Multiple outlets initially reported that afternoon that the altercation occurred during a hearing on military preparedness, when a man later identified as McGinnis stood up in the chamber and shouted objections to the conflict. Video circulated online shows McGinnis, who was wearing a U.S. Marine Corps uniform, yelling statements including “Israel is the reason for this war” and “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel.”
Officers with the United States Capitol Police quickly attempted to remove McGinnis from the room, leading to a struggle near the chamber doorway in which he appeared to hold onto a doorframe as officers pulled him away. During the struggle, McGinnis’ arm was broken, prompting shouts from others in the room that he had been injured.
According to the Associated Press, McGinnis was later charged with three counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest, and one count of crowding, obstructing, or incommoding, which his campaign has denied. The outlet also reported that Sheehy left the dais during the confrontation and assisted officers in removing McGinnis. Sheehy later said that he was trying to help deescalate the situation.
“For a senator to participate in the assault of a citizen who was already being handled by police is a violent abuse of power that should disqualify him from public service,” state party spokesperson Kalia J. Fitzgerald said in the statement. “Is that how the Senate silences vocal opposition?”
The party added that McGinnis, who it said is also a firefighter and father in addition to being a veteran, is running on a platform centered on peace. It said his campaign does not accept donations from corporations or foreign entities that profit from war, nor support from “dark money PACs,” and called out Sheehy for accepting campaign contributions from pro-war lobbying groups, specifically naming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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