Hegseth heckled by anti-war protesters at Army conference

Anti-war protesters disrupted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth several times while he spoke at the U.S. Army’s annual convention in Washington, D.C., accusing him of war crimes and condemning U.S. military operations abroad.

The Pentagon chief led a panel to discuss the future of autonomous warfare, where he was joined by military officials including acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink.

Seconds into his remarks, a protester could be heard shouting from the crowd before she was swiftly escorted out of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The disruptions continued, with one person shouting, “Children in Gaza are starving! He is a war criminal!”

“You’re not a warrior, you’re a coward!” another yelled.

Hegseth responded sarcastically to one of the interruptions, saying, “She must think highly of me,” before attempting to continue his remarks.

He was interrupted by at least five protesters, who were all escorted out of the event. One demonstrator briefly blasted a handheld air horn, while another shouted that the administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget was “killing people.”

The disruptions from the protesters were drowned out by the sound of hundreds of military officials and defense industry insiders in the audience who chanted, “USA, USA, USA!”

Hegseth was discussing the Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget, which he described as a “one-time generational investment” in the U.S. military following decades of what he called “chronic underfunding.”

The eye-popping number, which in total would be a nearly 50 percent increase to defense spending from the previous fiscal year, faces an uncertain path in Congress amid Democratic opposition to the Iran war and skepticism over the administration’s spending plans.

During the panel discussion, Hegseth appeared confident Congress would approve the funding regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections and has recently ramped up efforts to secure support on Capitol Hill.