US Capitol Police arrest dozens of military veterans protesting Trump’s war on Iran

US Capitol Police have arrested dozens of military veterans protesting a weeks-long war by American President Donald Trump against Iran, urging US service members to refuse to engage in the “deeply unpopular” aggression.

Military veterans, including some who were visibly disabled, were arrested by US Capitol Police on Monday, after they briefly occupied the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill to voice their strong dissent against Trump’s illegal war on Iran.

During the protest, the demonstrators, clad in military fatigues, while standing in the middle of the rotunda, unfurled banners that read “End the War on Iran” and “We Can't Afford Another War.”

While chanting anti-war slogans, the protesters also performed a flag-folding ceremony to symbolize American service members who have lost their lives in the war and who might be killed if the aggression resumes.

Several veterans also held red tulip flowers in honor of hundreds of civilians who have been killed in Iran since the onset of the war more than 50 days ago.

The protest rally was organized by a coalition of organizations, including About Face, Veterans For Peace, Common Defense, the Center on Conscience and War (CCW), the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition, Military Families Speak Out and 50501 Veterans.

“This war is already deeply unpopular, and it is already a crisis for the Trump administration,” said Mike Prysner, executive director of the CCW and a veteran of the 2003 Iraq War, in a statement before he was arrested.

“More than 100 service members have already started to file as COs. But if even more stand up, and some speak out, we have a real chance of deepening this crisis for Trump in a way that forces them to pull back from this war,” he added, using an acronym to refer to “conscientious objectors”, or service members who refuse to engage in a war they believe is immoral.

“The war I was sent to senselessly claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and a million Iraqis. Like the other veterans here with me today, I have spent the last two decades wishing I could turn back the hands of time and refuse to go. Service members have that chance right now,” Prysner further said.

Addressing US service members, Prysner also stressed that “conscientious objection is your legal right, and we have professional counselors who will fight to ensure you are approved and kept from deployment.”

According to the CCW, some five dozen protesters were arrested by US Capitol Police for what they called an act of civil disobedience.

“My advice to troops still serving is this: This is the most important historical moment of our lifetime, and what you choose to do matters. I can tell you from experience that continuing to help the war machine will only cause you more pain,” said Tyler Romero, a client of the CCW.

The development came as Trump, over the weekend, renewed his threats of bombing Iran’s civilian infrastructure, most notably power plants and bridges, unless Tehran signed an agreement to give up its peaceful nuclear program and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“If they don’t sign the deal, then the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump stressed.

The United States and the Israeli regime launched their latest bout of unprovoked aggression against the Islamic Republic on February 28.

Iranian Armed Forces responded with over 10 waves of retaliatory strikes, codenamed Operation True Promise 4, launching hundreds of ballistic and hypersonic missiles as well as drone attacks against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.

Forty days into the war, on April 8, a Pakistan-mediated two-week ceasefire went into effect but Washington-Tehran negotiations in Islamabad on April 11 failed to reach a deal due to excessive demands and shifting goalposts by the American delegation, headed by US Vice President JD Vance.

The US’s all-out war on Iran, which soon turned into a regional conflict, is a costly and illegal operation that has already consumed Washington tens of billions of dollars and raised concerns about the strain on US weapons stockpiles.

More than a dozen US service members have so far been killed in the war and hundreds more have sustained injuries.

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