62 Veterans Arrested at Capitol After Occupying Office Building to Demand End to Iran War

More than 60 military veterans, active-duty family members, and anti-war activists were arrested Monday after staging a prolonged nonviolent occupation of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, demanding a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson and an immediate end to what they called the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The protest, organized by several prominent veterans' advocacy organizations, drew participants from across the country and included elderly and disabled veterans who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflicts. Capitol Police moved in after organizers refused to disperse, and arrests proceeded throughout the afternoon in scenes that drew comparisons to prior anti-war sit-ins at the Capitol.

The groups behind the action included About Face: Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Common Defense, and Military Families Speak Out — a coalition that has become increasingly vocal since U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict escalated earlier this year. Among those arrested was Mike Prysner, an Iraq War veteran and executive director of the Center on Conscience and War, who helped coordinate the demonstration. Organizers had demanded a formal meeting with Johnson to present a letter signed by hundreds of veterans opposing the military engagement and calling for a diplomatic solution. Johnson's office declined to respond to the request before or during the protest.

The protesters staged a flag-folding ceremony inside the Cannon Building as part of the demonstration, symbolizing the military dead and those they believe are being placed at risk by continued operations. Speakers described the human cost of the conflict in personal terms — describing family members deployed to the region, describing friends who had died or been wounded in previous U.S. wars, and drawing explicit parallels to the anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s and 1970s. "We know what these wars do," Prysner said before his arrest. "We've been in them. We're here because the people making these decisions have not."

The demonstration unfolded as public debate over U.S. military involvement in Iran has intensified on Capitol Hill. Several members of Congress, primarily progressive Democrats, have attempted to invoke the War Powers Resolution to force a vote on the conflict, but those efforts have been blocked by Republican leadership. The veterans' groups argue that the Trump administration has committed U.S. forces to combat without congressional authorization, a constitutional argument that legal scholars have said has merit even if it has rarely been successfully enforced. The Senate and House have held no formal debate or vote on the Iran conflict since it began.

All 62 arrested individuals were processed and released with citations Monday evening, according to Capitol Police. None faced charges more serious than unlawful entry and disorderly conduct. Veterans' advocacy groups announced that they planned additional protests in Washington and in congressional districts across the country in the coming weeks, and called on other veterans' service organizations — including the larger and more politically mainstream American Legion and VFW — to speak out against the conflict. The protest drew significant attention on social media, where video of the arrests spread rapidly and was viewed by millions within hours.