A Senate hearing on national security strategy was briefly interrupted by activists protesting the participation of former Secretary of State and accused war criminal Henry Kissinger before committee chair, John McCain (R-Ariz.) lashed out at them in an unusual display of public anger.
Members of the group Code Pink, an anti-war organization based in Washington, DC, stood up before the hearing, carrying signs, and calling for war crimes charges against Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was called to testify before the panel alongside fellow former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and George Schultz.
“Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes,” protestors emblazoned in pink chanted before being escorted out of the room by Capitol Police. The group’s founder Medea Benjamin highlighted a number of countries that were bombed, destabilized, and generally terrorized by the US government under the watch of Henry Kissinger.
“In the name of the people of Chile. In the name of the people of Vietnam. In the name of the people of Eat Timor. In the name of the people of Cambodia. In the name of the people of Laos,” Benjamin shouted.
Sen. McCain was incensed.
“I’d like to say to my colleagues and to our distinguished witnesses this morning that I’ve been a member of this committee for many years and I’ve never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place,” he said.
After another outburst, McCain responded, “You’re going to have to shut up or I’m going to have you arrested.”
“Get out of here you low life scum,” he said to one of the activists.
Code Pink demonstrations are common on Capitol Hill. As The Sentinel reported yesterday, Sen. McCain brushed aside one of their protests during a separate hearing on Wednesday in the Armed Services Committee. The group shouted their objections to military spending in a discussion of sequestration cuts both before and after the hearing, but maintained relative calm throughout.
While the group’s demonstrators are often boisterous and find themselves removed from committee hearings by Capitol Police, they aren’t typically confronted publicly with the anger Sen. McCain displayed on Thursday.
Watch video of the incident below.
