Protesters caused a frenzy after interrupting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his appearance before a Senate committee.
The 45-year-old former Fox News host was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee for a second day in the first public congressional hearings since the Iran war began.
Fiercely defending the president’s war with Iran, which began more than two months ago and has cost taxpayers over $25 billion, Hegseth attacked Senate Democrats and the few Republicans who have openly criticized the president’s war while defending the Pentagon’s request for $1.5 trillion to finance it.
At one point, as Hegseth was speaking, a protester from the activist group Code Pink interrupted him from the audience behind, labeling him a “war criminal” and calling for his arrest.
“You’re a war criminal, you should be arrested, what you’re doing is despicable,” the protester, identified only as ‘Gus’ by Code Pink, shouted. He was bearing a hand-painted sign that read, “NO WAR ON IRAN.”
He continued shouting as he was escorted out by Capitol police, telling Hegseth, “The American people do not want to go into this war. We don’t want to fight a war for Israel!” Israel, which has long expressed concern about the threat posed by nearby Iran, joined the U.S. in conducting the initial strikes on the country in February and has continued to provide its support while also conducting strikes on Lebanon.
Hegseth stopped speaking as the interruption took place, with Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker then reminding attendees, “Further interruptions of our hearing will be treated in like manner. We appreciate the First Amendment rights of Americans to express themselves, but disruption of this hearing will not be tolerated.”
In a statement shared by Code Pink, the group said that Gus was detained and arrested by police, but has since been released.
In a comment to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for Code Pink explained that the protest was part of the group’s “Arrest Hegseth” campaign, designed to “expose Pete Hegseth for the war criminal he truly is.”
The group is also seeking answers to questions about the strike, launched on the first day of the war, that hit a girls’ elementary school in Minab and killed 156 civilians, including 120 schoolchildren.
The group wants Hegseth and the Department of Defense to explain why the school was targeted, whether AI was used in the strike and if a human reviewed the decision beforehand, and what steps the Pentagon is taking to prevent harm to civilians during the war.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
In the hot seat on Thursday, Hegseth lashed out at “naysayers” who have questioned the president’s decision to go to war with Iran.
“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” the secretary said in his opening remarks.
“Defeatists from the cheap seats, who two months in, seek to undermine the incredible efforts that have been undertaken and the historic nature of taking on a 40-year threat with the courage no other president has had,” he continued.
Hegeth was joined at the hearing by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, as the pair worked to justify the Pentagon’s trillion-dollar request.
On Wednesday, Hegseth said that the increased budget, which includes a pay increase for service members, “will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military, as we grapple with a complex threat environment across multiple theaters.”
A senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday that the war has already cost taxpayers $25 billion. The U.S. and Iran are currently in the third week of a ceasefire designed to allow time for a deal that would end the war to be reached.
Hegseth argued on Thursday that the ceasefire means that the 60-day limit on a war initiated without congressional approval has been paused, and that the administration does not need to seek consent by the Friday deadline in order to continue hostilities.
