An active-duty Air Force major was taken into custody on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday after publicly calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The arrest of Maj. Jason P. Watson unfolded after he exceeded the bounds of permitted protest on Capitol grounds.
Under Capitol regulations, peaceful demonstrations are allowed, but speakers must be accompanied by a member of Congress to address the public from the steps. Watson initially had Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) by his side, but when Green departed, Capitol Police ordered Watson to step down. He refused and was arrested on charges of crowding, obstructing, and incommoding, according to a department statement.
Watson’s remarks targeted what he described as unconstitutional military actions ordered by Trump. “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 onlookers. He claimed these operations led to the deaths of 13 service members and injuries to hundreds more, and argued that both Trump and Vance should be impeached and removed from office.
The major also leveled accusations about domestic policy, pointing to the Trump administration’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), mass deportation efforts by the Department of Homeland Security, and the killing of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration authorities. He further alleged that the administration had violated First Amendment rights by sponsoring violence against peaceful protesters. “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, referencing incidents during Trump’s second term.
Watson additionally claimed that a woman who followed conflicting DHS instructions fatally shot a subdued man who posed no threat, and that cabinet officials had violated Second Amendment rights. “For this, the President and Vice President must be impeached, convicted, and removed,” he repeated before reciting the Air Force Oath of Office.
Rep. Green, who was ejected from Trump’s joint address to Congress earlier this year and lost his Democratic primary in May, praised Watson’s actions in a follow-up video. “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 said. “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.”
The Air Force has not commented on whether Watson will face a court-martial or other disciplinary measures under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The arrest comes amid heightened political tensions, with Trump’s second term facing ongoing battles over executive authority, including recent Senate reversals on Iran war powers and stalled Doha talks with Iran.
