A town hall held by Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., was cut short by police Wednesday after disruptions from pro-Palestinian protesters, reports CNN.
Officers had to escort constituents out of the building in Downers Grove, Illinois, after they refused to sit down while Casten was talking.
In one exchange, Casten told a protester, "If you have an issue, if you have a question, we can address that in the question period."
"You are bought and paid for by Israel!" the man yelled back. "You are bought and paid for by AIPAC!"
"You believe that, but it doesn't make it true," Casten responded.
At one point a man jumped on stage with Casten.
"A small group of individuals have attended multiple of Rep. Casten's events with the sole intent of disrupting and shutting down the event, preventing constituents from being able to participate and engage in the democratic process," Casten's office said in a press release afterward.
"Rep. Casten is proud to have successfully hosted a half dozen town halls and community meetings so far this year and will continue to find ways to productively engage with his constituents."
Casten told CNN he will continue to hold town halls.
"I think the challenge, in this particular case, is when you have people in the room who are at odds with other people in the room and that, in turn, creating a public safety issue," he said.
"We need to be sensitive in how we do that going forward. I think we have to be much more deferential to what local police feel is a safe way to do the town hall, but I think it's important for us to continue to make sure we keep the avenues for civil discourse and disagreement."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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