U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson was arrested Wednesday while demonstrating at the Capitol for the impeachment of President Trump.
Capitol police said they arrested Maj. Watson for demonstrating on the Capitol steps, which is against the law unless the demonstrator is with a member of Congress.
Maj. Watson was initially accompanied by Rep. Al Green, Texas Democrat, during an impeachment press conference led by the Removal Coalition, a grassroots organization. When the congressman left the area, police officers told Maj. Watson to stop his demonstration or he would be arrested.
“The man refused our lawful orders and was then arrested for 22-1307 Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding,” a Capitol Police spokesperson said. “It is important to note that there are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds where demonstrating is allowed.”
Maj. Watson is risking his active-duty military career to publicly call for Mr. Trump’s impeachment.
“For the past 18 months, we the people have allowed the highest levels of the executive branch of the federal government to violate our Constitution and their oath to it with impunity,” Maj. Watson said at the press conference, accusing Mr. Trump of committing “innumerable” impeachable offenses.
The Air Force major enlisted in 2005. While he still holds active-duty status, he is currently on leave from his post as a logistics readiness officer in Poland.
Maj. Watson said the president should be impeached for violating the War Powers Act by ordering military strikes against Iran and Venezuela without an imminent threat to U.S. interests or approval from Congress.
“These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries of hundreds more,” he said.
Maj. Watson said Mr. Trump also illegally circumvented Congress’ power of the purse and advice and consent authority over political appointments to give Elon Musk, “an unelected mega donor, sweeping authority to shut down large swaths of our federal government, along with unrestricted access to our government databases.”
“These violations exposed every American’s personal sensitive data to leaks and exploitation, illegally terminated tens of thousands of federal civil servants, and crippled support to Americans for medical care and disaster preparedness and, by far most tragically, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of the world’s most impoverished people with inhumanely abrupt cessation of U.S. aid,” he said.
Maj. Watson accused Mr. Trump of committing several other impeachable offenses, such as sponsoring violence against Americans exercising their First Amendment right to protest and denying due process to immigrants deported “to a foreign prison notorious for human rights abuses.”
He also accused the president of “levying illegal tariffs,” using executive branch agencies “to extort settlements” from private institutions he disagrees with, “trading pardons for donations” and “weaponizing the Department of Justice against political adversaries, while ignoring crimes of supporters and enablers.”
“The constitutional impeachment process is our best pathway to restore fidelity to our Constitution,” he said.
Jessica Denson, the founder of the Removal Coalition, said Maj. Watson reached out to her organization in February because he wanted to speak out and join their impeachment movement.
She said he is risking not only his military career and pension, but potential prosecution to stand by the oath he swore to the Constitution.
“This is the example of sacrifice that members of Congress need to see and confront,” Ms. Denson said. “They need to confront the betrayal of every man and woman in uniform that has put their lives on the line to defend our rights and our freedom over the past 250 years.”
Mr. Green but did not speak at the press conference but stood by as Ms. Denson and Mr. Watson complimented him for being the only member of Congress willing to force a vote on impeaching Mr. Trump during his second term.
The House voted to kill Mr. Green’s impeachment resolution charging Mr. Trump with abuse of power, 237-140.
All Republicans and 23 Democrats voted to prevent an up-or-down vote, while more than half of the Democratic Caucus sided with Mr. Green in opposition to killing the measure. Another 47 Democrats voted “present.”
Mr. Green could trigger another impeachment vote at any time Congress is in session, and may be more incentivized to do so after losing his primary earlier this year.
The congressman said in a floor speech last week that Mr. Trump’s refusal to sign a bipartisan housing bill Congress passed is providing “another piece of ammunition for the countdown to impeachment.”
“You may not be impeached for this bill, but you’re giving people reasons to consider your impeachment for legitimate reasons that already exist,” he said.
Maj. Watson said he is not a Democrat and knows “next to nothing” about Mr. Green’s policy positions, but said he is “the only member of Congress that has demonstrated the courage and conviction” needed to impeach Mr. Trump.
“If Congress followed his example, we could remove the entire Trump administration,” he said. “But Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oaths, so we must persuade them with our unrelenting, uncompromising civil resistance.”
