Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) helped U.S. Capitol Police drag an Iran war protester out of a Senate hearing on military readiness Wednesday, according to video and reports.

Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, can be seen in a clip from CBS News joining cops in ejecting Brian McGinnis, a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate from North Carolina. McGinnis is a military veteran, according to his website, and he wore a service uniform to the hearing.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran was removed from the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support hearing on Wednesday for protesting against military action in Iran.Brian McGinnis, a Green Party candidate running for Senate in North Carolina, was forcibly… pic.twitter.com/O4HgtHw0cP

Sheehy said later on X he was trying to “deescalate the situation” ― an assertion that was disputed in the hearing room.

McGinnis, who reportedly broke his arm in the fracas, was charged with three counts of assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing in an unlawful demonstration, according to a statement from Capitol Police.

“No one wants to fight for Israel!” McGinnis screamed with his arm wrapped awkwardly around the door as he was pulled away.

Observers yelled for Sheehy and police to watch McGinnis’ hand, which appeared to be trapped in a precarious angle in the door frame. When he was asked if his arm was OK, McGinnis replied, “No, it is not.”

A man yelled that a “U.S. sitting senator just broke the hand of a Marine” and called Sheehy a “coward” as he walked by. Reuters reported that McGinnis’ arm was broken. In an X post on Thursday, McGinnis said he broke his arm “standing up for what I believe in.”

Sheehy shared the CBS video on X and wrote:

“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.” Attached was a community note refuting the senator’s claim.

Mark Elbourno, who manages Sheehy’s campaign, pushed back as well.

“He wasn’t assaulting anybody. … He just wanted to be heard [and was] speaking loud and clear,” he told CBS News. “He was assaulted, actually. They broke his arm.”

Elbourno said McGinnis was treated at a hospital.

Capitol Police accused McGinnis of “violently resisting.”

“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 Capitol Police said in a statement.

Three officers were treated for injuries, according to the statement.

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