Air Force major arrested after calling for Trump impeachment on Capitol steps

(The Hill) – An Air Force major was arrested on the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday after calling for President Trump and Vice President Vance’s impeachment.

Peaceful demonstrations are permitted on Capitol grounds, but a protester must remain alongside a member of Congress to speak openly from the steps.

Originally, Air Force Major Jason P. Watson was accompanied by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who later left.

Upon the lawmaker’s exit, Watson was directed to come off the steps or face arrest, Capitol Police told The Hill. Watson was then arrested for crowding, obstructing and incommoding, the authorities noted in a statement.

“When the President of the United States orders military action against foreign countries, absent an emergency scenario where American interests are under imminent dire threats, as was done with Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, that’s an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause,” Watson told bystanders.

“These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries of hundreds more. For this, the President and Vice President must be impeached, convicted, and removed,” he added.

The Air Force major went on to list grievances ranging from the Trump administration’s actions with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), mass deportation efforts led by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration authorities.

“When the President of the United States sponsors violence on the American people engaged in their constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest, that’s a violation of our First Amendment rights. Pastors praying for DHS agents violently attacked without provocation. A legal observer losing an eye after being shot with a non-lethal violent ICE agent,” Watson said, referring to events during the second Trump administration.

“A woman attempting to follow chaotic and contradictory DHS agent instructions fatally gunned down a subdued man that posed no threat, fatally shot after having his unbranded firearm removed, with statements by high-ranking cabinet members also violating our Second Amendment rights. For this, the President and Vice President must be impeached, convicted, and removed,” he added before reciting the U.S. Air Force’s Oath of Office.

Watson’s actions were commended by Green in a follow up video. The Texas lawmaker was notably thrown out of the chamber during Trump’s first joint address to Congress of his second term and his State of the Union speech earlier this year.

“He stood for impeachment of the president on the Capitol Grounds, and thereafter he walked up the steps where he was arrested and he was taken away,” Green, who lost his Democratic primary in May, said of Watson.

“This is the kind of courage necessary to inspire others to understand that liberty and justice for all that we pledge allegiance to is something that we can make real. It’s more than an ideal. It is something that can be real for every person in this country if we but only have the courage to take the stand that Major Watson took,” he added.

The Air Force major could be court-martialed or face disciplinary measures under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

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