By Julia Wright
March 13, 2026
Capitol police, assisted by pro-war U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy, forced Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Brian McGinnis out of a Senate hearing where he was protesting the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, breaking his arm on the way out and arresting him, charging him with assault. McGinnis, who is running in North Carolina for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket, was active with the 2024 Freedom Flotilla. Upon seeing the video showing McGinnis’ arrest when he protested the war, poet Julia Wright wrote the poem below.
Brian McGinnis, wearing his Marine uniform, as Capitol Police agents drag him out from a Senate hearing where he protested the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran. March 4, 2026.
when the body becomes
a voice
when the protesting body
speaks up
when all the shouts
of the attackers
are drowned out
by a loud crack
when that crack
is an arm heard to be
breaking
when the arm breaks
rather than be forced
through the door
of a warmongering Senate floor
when the voice
of an arm breaking
is not lost
in translation
as it shouts
crack by crack
virally
around the world
when that breaking
but loud voice
reaches
Palestine
and
Iran …
(c) Julia Wright. March 5th 2026. All Rights Reserved
