Fact Check: US military pilots arrested for refusing to fly weapons to Israel? No, it was for disruption during senate hearing

Hyderabad: The conflict between Israel and Gaza is escalating, with Israel increasing its military operations in the region. In this context, a video is going viral on social media with claims that it shows the arrest of two American military pilots who refused to fly planes loaded with weapons to Israel.

In the video, two uniformed officers and later another person are handcuffed and taken away. All three were seen protesting saying the US is complicit in genocide.

The video was shared on YouTube with the title “US military personnel arrested for refusing to fly weapons-laden plane to Israel”. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the viral claims are false. The two officers and another person were detained for disruption during a Senate hearing on September 3.

Using reverse image search, we found that the viral video was shared on Facebook by the user ‘Viva Viva Palestina’ on September 4. The caption stated that US Army veterans Anthony Aguilar and Josephine Guilbeau were removed from a Senate hearing after calling out the committee members for being complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

It further stated, “Aguilar, a retired Green Beret who worked as a contractor for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), called out the group for firing on Palestinian civilians seeking food at GHF “aid” sites."

Through this lead we performed keyword searches and found the video uploaded by Al Jazeera English to Facebook on September 3. The video shows an extended version of the viral video where we can see the proceedings inside the senate hearing right before both uniformed officers who loudly protested were dragged out.

The video caption reads, “Video shows US Army veterans Anthony Aguilar and Josephine Guilbeau, interrupting a Senate hearing denouncing US support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Both were arrested and reportedly released later.”

According to a report published by the TRT World on the same day, the forceful removal of the Anthony Aguilar from the Senate hearing took place after interrupting proceedings to accuse lawmakers of complicity in genocide.

“Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar, a former Green Beret, and Captain Josephine Guilbeau, a former US intelligence officer, stood up during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, declaring their constitutional duty to speak out against Israel’s war on Gaza,” read the report.

The report details Aguilar talking about witnessing civilians, including a starving boy named Amir, being killed during aid operations and accusing US-backed contractors of facilitating these atrocities.

There are no reports mentioning that Anthony Aguilar and Josephine Guilbeau were arrested for refusing to fly weapons-ladden planes to Israel. They both were arrested for disruption during a Senate hearing on September 3.

NewsMeter concludes that the viral claims are false.