An active-duty Air Force major found himself in handcuffs this week after taking part in a one-man protest calling for the impeachment and removal of President Donald J. Trump.
The officer, Maj. Jason Watson, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on the Capitol’s House steps after defying police orders to end his demonstration, which violated Capitol rules barring unauthorized protests in that area.
Watson, dressed in full uniform, carried a sign reading “Impeach Convict Remove” before Capitol Police detained him around 1:15 p.m. He had been briefly joined by Rep. Al Green of Texas, a Democrat long obsessed with trying to oust Trump, who escorted him partway up the steps before conveniently walking off.
Once Green left the scene, Capitol Police officers cited Watson under 22-1307 for “Crowding, Obstructing and Incommoding.”
A Capitol Police spokesperson said Watson was given multiple warnings to stop his illegal demonstration but refused to comply.
Officers noted that there were designated protest zones nearby where such activities are permitted, making Watson’s decision to stage his stunt directly on the steps entirely deliberate.
Video of the incident shows the major standing stiffly in uniform, sign in hand, before being approached and ultimately escorted away by officers as a few fringe activists chanted slogans questioning law enforcement loyalty.
Nothing heroic—just a textbook violation of rules and military regulations.
Prior to his arrest, Watson had appeared with an odd mix of activists and left-leaning figures including Jessica Denson, a self-styled “Removal Coalition” founder.
At a small press event, Watson was introduced as a “patriot” willing to sacrifice his career to push for Trump’s impeachment and even called for Vice President JD Vance’s removal from office. Denson later praised him for risking his benefits and pension for this political performance.
Watson currently serves as a logistics readiness officer stationed in Poland and has more than twenty years of military service. According to the Air Force, he entered active duty in 2009 after graduating from the Air Force Academy.
He now faces administrative or possibly criminal repercussions for his actions, as the Uniform Code of Military Justice strictly forbids partisan political activities by service members—especially while wearing the uniform.
An Air Force spokesperson emphasized that “service members must comply with all laws, regulations and policies governing conduct and the wear of the uniform” and that commanders will “take the necessary administrative and disciplinary actions to hold service members accountable.”
This officer might have traded a long career and solid benefits for an afternoon of leftist grandstanding.
During his pre-arrest speech, Watson proclaimed that he swore an oath to the Constitution and claimed the greatest threat to the nation came not from abroad but from within.
He accused President Trump and Vice President Vance of violating the Constitution, citing foreign policy decisions in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran—talking points that sound suspiciously like something scripted by MSNBC.
He also tossed around a range of outlandish accusations, including that Elon Musk had been “allowed to shut down” parts of the federal government and that Homeland Security had supposedly detained people illegally and sent them to prisons in Central America.
Watson even claimed Trump “sponsors violence” against Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—a ridiculous assertion considering Trump has repeatedly called for peace and law enforcement respect during protests.
To top it off, the major recited a laundry list of so-called “impeachable offenses” that read like a social media rant: limiting congressional oversight of immigration centers, suing leftist organizations, and allegedly “weaponizing” the Department of Justice.
His entire speech was peppered with the same overheated rhetoric that progressive activists have been recycling for years.
Al Green, the Texas congressman who has been on an anti-Trump crusade since 2017, declined to comment on whether he knew Watson would be arrested once unaccompanied.
For context, Green was the sole member of Congress who voted to impeach Trump during his second term—a move even his fellow Democrats deemed pointless. His resolution was overwhelmingly tabled in the House.
At the end of his remarks, Watson urged Americans to protest “every day” until, in his words, “this administration is removed.” He called himself “just a nobody,” apparently believing standing on the Capitol steps for a photo op made him a martyr.
Activists sympathetic to Watson have launched an online fundraising page that has reportedly brought in about $70,000 for his legal defense.
It’s unclear whether that will be enough to save his commission or his pension, but the situation serves as a perfect example of what happens when partisan politics infects the ranks of those who swore to serve the nation, not a political ideology.
The Air Force has confirmed Watson remains assigned as a staff officer in Bydgoszcz, Poland, but declined further comment on pending disciplinary actions.
The White House did not issue a statement on the matter.
Watson’s arrest marks the first known instance of an active-duty commissioned officer staging a personal protest to demand President Trump’s impeachment.
Unfortunately for him, the military takes loyalty to the chain of command seriously, and even political passion doesn’t excuse insubordination dressed in blues.
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