By anielle Battaglia
The News & Observer
WASHINGTON — A video went viral Wednesday of a U.S. Senate candidate from North Carolina wrestling with Capitol police in Washington when his arm caught between two doors and seemingly snapped.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana, jumped into help officers as they wrestled with the protester.
Capitol police told McClatchy that three of the officers involved were injured and treated by fire and emergency services.
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Now, Brian McGinnis, 44, a Green Party candidate and Raleigh firefighter, faces seven criminal charges. They include three counts of misdemeanor assault on a police officer, three counts of misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor crowding, obstructing, and incommoding.
He’s also on paid administrative leave from the Raleigh Fire Department pending the outcome of an active investigation, according to Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin .
“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,” Capitol Police said in a written statement to McClatchy. “Protests are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings. There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed.”
Signs are posted around Capitol buildings and outside hearing rooms warning against interrupting hearings. Visitors are also often warned before hearings begin.
It’s not unusual to see Capitol police step in and aggressively move a protester out of a hearing room when a meeting is interrupted.
Disrupting Congress
So how did this all begin Wednesday?
The Senate Committee on Armed Services’ subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support met Wednesday afternoon to hear from members of various branches of the military about their “readiness.” Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, told the audience in the Hart Senate Office building that this hearing helps set the tone for all future conversations throughout the year and preparation for the National Defense Authorization Act, a large, annual military spending bill.
Around 30 minutes into the hearing, Sullivan was transitioning from Navy Admiral James Kilby’s opening statements to Marine Corps Gen. Bradford Gering’s, when McGinnis stood up in the audience and shouted.
“Israel is the reason for this war,” McGinnis said. “America does not want to fight this war for Israel.”
An officer grabbed McGinnis on the arm and said, “Let’s go,” but McGinnis jerked away.
A struggle ensued as McGinnis continued to shout.
“America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel.”
Officers slowly made their way to the back of the hearing room as McGinnis fought against them.
“This is wrong and nobody wants to fight for Israel.”
McGinnis fell to the ground as two officers continued to wrestle him to the door.
Sullivan reminded the audience that protests are not allowed in the Capitol buildings and that protesters would be escorted out by Capitol police.
McGinnis, whose campaign website says he is a Marine Corps veteran, was dressed in his Marine Corps uniform at the hearing — a potential violation of military regulations. Doing so could result in a $250 fine and six months in prison.
Arm injury
C-SPAN cameras caught the moment Sheehy got up from his seat at the dais and moved toward the back of the room to help Capitol police who were now wrestling McGinnis to the ground.
Capitol police were able to get McGinnis to the door as Sheehy appeared by their side and helped grab McGinnis.
What none of them appeared to notice is that McGinnis had managed to swing open a door next to the one they were trying to pull him through and as he grabbed onto the door frame to keep the officers from yanking him out, his arm was caught between the now-closed door and the frame.
As they pulled, video shows, McGinnis’ arm was jerked downward and made a cracking sound.
“His hand,” several people shout, followed by several exasperated exclamations.
From video available online, it does not appear Sheehy was touching McGinnis when his arm popped. But it was then that Sheehy noticed McGinnis’ arm was caught in the door, walked back into the room and tried to free McGinnis.
“The senator broke his hand,” a man shouts. “A sitting U.S. senator broke his hand.”
On social media, Sheehy posted, “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.”
As the audience reacted to the raucous scene, they noticed none of the witnesses turned around, causing more outrage.
C-SPAN’s video captured Sheehy coming back to his seat to hear from Gering, who began his testimony.
“(Expletive) Israel,” a man shouts as Gering continued speaking without missing a beat. And the meeting continued another 87 minutes.
Family’s reaction
In attempting to reach McGinnis Thursday afternoon, McClatchy instead reached his mother, Mary Lou, who had only seen the video five minutes before the phone call, and hadn’t been able to reach her son.
“He was a wonderful kid,” she said. “He’s not a violent person at all, but is very strong.”
She said her son served as a class president, was a popular football captain, has four children and served in the fire department, though she worried this might jeopardize his job.
McGinnis’ voicemail box was full Thursday afternoon and he did not respond to a text message.
Senate race
The incident with McGinnis came as former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley were taking victory laps in North Carolina after winning their party’s nominations to the U.S. Senate in Tuesday night primaries.
All three men are looking to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville.
Tillis took to social media about the incident Wednesday night.
“Thank you @TimSheehyMT for helping Capitol Police with this unhinged protestor who injured three officers while violently resisting arrest,” Tillis posted.
Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, serves on the Armed Services committee, but not on this particular subcommittee and did not witness the incident. His staff declined comment.
The Green Party put out a statement saying they “salute” McGinnis’ actions.
“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,” said Kaila Fitzgerald, North Carolina Green Party spokeswoman. “Is that how the Senate silences vocal opposition?”
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