A former Navy chaplain says he was in the Senate gallery this morning when two Christians were escorted out of the chamber for disrupting the opening prayer given by a Hindu chaplain.

Gordon James Klingenschmitt says when he heard that the Hindu man, who is affiliated with the Indian Association of Northern Nevada, was invited to give the opening prayer for July 12, he went to the U.S. Senate in hopes of gaining equal access. On Tuesday, he went to the office of Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) office seeking permission to offer a Christian prayer in the Senate at some future date. Not being from Nevada, Klingenschmitt was turned away and directed to the office of one of his senators — Hillary Clinton (D-New York) — whose staff also reportedly declined his request.

The former chaplain says he then attempted to get an audience with Senate Chaplain Barry Black. “I went to Chaplain Black’s office, and they must have known I was coming because they had already informed security not to let me in,” he says. “And so they wouldn’t give me an appointment with Chaplain Black. They said his personal calendar is booked until 2009.”