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Former lieutenant arrested at Petraeus hearing

A former Air Force officer and anti-war protester was arrested Monday for causing a disturbance outside the hearing room where Gen. David Petraeus testified on the state of progress in Iraq.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood was a lieutenant in the Individual Ready Reserve until his honorable discharge in mid-August. He has been speaking out against the war in Iraq since before it began because it is “immoral,” he told Air Force Times in August. Yearwood is the president of the Hip Hop Caucus, and activist group which opposes the war.

In a video posted Tuesday on YouTube, Yearwood is seen arguing with Capitol Police just outside the door of the hearing room. He repeatedly asks officers, “Why did you single me out?”

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, said Yearwood was stopped from entering the room after attempting to cut in front of people waiting to get in.

“What he tried to do was jump to the front of the line. He was told he couldn’t do that,” Schneider said. “And he pretty much charged at the officers to get past them into the room, after he was told not to.”

Liz Havstad, a spokeswoman for the Hip Hop Caucus, said officers actually pulled Yearwood out of line and began questioning him. A Tuesday press release from HHC quoted Yearwood as saying, “The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petreaus’ hearing when they saw my button, which says ‘I love the people of Iraq.’”

The video of the arrest begins as Yearwood is talking heatedly with officers, so it is unclear how the incident began. Almost two minutes in, though, Yearwood walks past one officer, and another officer puts his hands on Yearwood’s shoulders. Yearwood shrugs the officer off sharply, and six to eight officer immediately jump the minister and push him to the ground, where he is handcuffed.

Shouts from the crowd tell the officers to “take it easy,” that Yearwood is “a nonviolent man, he’s a minister.”

Those shouts come from none other than Cindy Sheehan, Havstad said. Sheehan and Yearwood have previously collaborated on protest events.

The footage is a true who’s-who of anti-war celebrities: Sheehan’s sister DeDe Miller also shouts support to Yearwood; former Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh is seen entering the hearing room at the beginning of the video; and a Code Pink protestor is removed from the hearing, shouting slogans all the way.

Yearwood was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer, according to Schneider. He was expected to be arraigned Tuesday and plead not guilty to both counts, Havstad said. Sheehan and her sister Miller were also arrested in the incident for disturbing the peace.

After the police put Yearwood in handcuffs, he is heard to say his leg is broken on the video. He is then taken away in a wheelchair by medical officials. Havstad said Yearwood was treated at George Washington Hospital for a broken leg.