Dozens of veterans and military family members were arrested Monday after occupying the Cannon House Office Building rotunda in a civil disobedience action demanding an end to the war against Iran.
U.S. Capitol Police took at least 62 people into custody, zip-tying their hands and leading them away as the protesters chanted anti-war slogans.
The demonstration, which drew about 150 participants, was organized by a coalition of groups including About Face, Veterans for Peace, Common Defense, the Center on Conscience and War, the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition, Military Families Speak Out and 50501 Veterans.
Standing at attention, many in military fatigues, the protesters held red tulips — a silent tribute to Iranians killed by U.S. strikes — and unveiled banners reading “End the War on Iran.”
They conducted a flag-folding ceremony to honor the 13 American troops who have already died in the conflict. The protesters demanded House Speaker Mike Johnson accept the folded flag and pledge to halt further war funding.
Among those arrested was Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War and an Iraq War veteran. Before his arrest, Prysner said the war was “already deeply unpopular” and “a crisis for the Trump administration.”
“The war I was sent to senselessly claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and a million Iraqis,” Prysner said. “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 emphasized that conscientious objection is a legal right for service members and said more than 100 troops have already begun the filing process. “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 said.
Tyler Romero, a client of the center who filed as a conscientious objector in 2025 after seven years as a Navy corpsman, was also arrested. “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,” Romero said.
The war began on Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes. Defense officials call the campaign Operation Epic Fury. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has described its goals as “laser-focused” and insisted it will not be another endless war.
In June 2025, Operation Midnight Hammer struck Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which the Pentagon says obliterated Tehran’s nuclear program.
A two-week cease-fire is set to expire Wednesday, and President Trump has rejected extending it.
Over the weekend, Trump warned that “the whole country is going to get blown up” if Iran fails to sign a deal surrendering its nuclear ambitions.
The veterans and families arrested Monday were still being held by D.C. Metro Police as of Monday afternoon.
The Center on Conscience and War urged any service member opposed to the war to call its hotline for conscientious objection counseling.
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