Six Protesters Forcibly Removed From Army Conference After Calling Hegseth a 'War Criminal'

A protestor is removed by security personnel as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2026 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, DC on October 14, 2026. The AUSA Meeting and Exposition is a defense trade show and networking event for the global defense community. (Credit: Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing

• Six anti-war demonstrators staged a coordinated series of interruptions at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's panel at the AUSA 2026 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. , calling him a "war criminal" and "Nazi" before being forcibly removed one by one.
• Security personnel physically carried at least one woman out of the ballroom while she continued shouting; a Getty Images photograph of the removal circulated widely across social media within minutes.
• The disruptions unfolded as Hegseth presented the Pentagon's Project Agincourt and Autonomous Warfare Command initiative — backed by a $54.6 billion FY2027 budget request — on the final day of the Army's largest annual conference.