Retired U.S. Military Veterans Escorted Out of Senate Hearing After Protesting for Gaza
Two retired members of the military disrupted a Senate hearing after accusing the United States government being complicit in a genocide in Gaza. Video shows Capitol police removing retired Army intelligence officer Josephine Guilbeau and retired Green Beret Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar from the chamber. Aguilar has a history as a whistleblower against the U.S. and Israeli government alleging war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
Two retired military members disrupted a Senate hearing to call attention to Gaza
During a Senate hearing, retired Army intelligence officer Josephine Guilbeau and retired Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar called attention to what they see as failings of the U.S. government. The two shouted that the U.S. government is complicit in a genocide targeting the Palestinian people living in Gaza. The two-person demonstration started with Aguilar standing up and shouting, “The United States government is complicit in a genocide.”
Police officers quickly detained Aguilar and Guilbeau and forcibly removed them from the chamber. Guilbeau continued to shout, “You’re complicit in a genocide.” The officers then put Guilbeau and Aguilar against a wall and handcuffed them to continue removing them from the premises.
“The Israeli terrorists are committing a genocide, and the U.S. Congress and Senate are complicit in funding the bombs that are forcing children to be slaughtered and massacred,” Guilbeau shouts at the camera. “Shame on this government. The United States is complicit in genocide.”
Aguilar warned American citizens as police escorted him down the hallway. With his hands cuffed behind his back, he asked the American people to think about what they were seeing.
“When the United States Congress comes after veterans, they will come after you,” Aguilar says in the video. “Every American sitting at home right now needs to realize that you are paying for a genocide.”
Aguilar has been vocal about what he claims to have seen in Gaza
Aguilar was a contractor for the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF). He claims that he witnessed armed forces open fire on civilians at aid distribution sites. He called the actions he witnessed “war crimes,” accusing the IDF of targeting Palestinian civilians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“I witnessed the IDF fire into a crowd of Palestinians,” he told BBC News. “I witnessed the IDF firing a main gun tank round from the Merkava tank into a crowd of people, destroying a car of civilians that were simply driving away from the site.”
Aguilar further iterated that he had never witnessed such brutality against unarmed civilians. It was enough for Aguilar to blow the whistle on the GHF. The IDF denied the claims, and GHF investigated the allegations and claims that they are “materially false.”
“Upon hearing Mr. Aguilar’s claims, we immediately launched an investigation,” an official with GHF said in a statement to The Times of Israel. “The findings, based on cross-checking the timelines with video clips and on sources on the ground, indicate that these are false claims with no basis in reality.”
