Hageman town halls: We all must do better

These days, many Americans are eager to point the finger at someone else, blaming them when something doesn’t go their way. But in the circumstances leading up to U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman’s decision this week to move future town halls online, both sides are at fault.

For her critics, it’s easy to say the Republican representative can’t handle the heat, so she’s moved to a forum where she can cut off the blistering impact of a cacophony of shouts, boos and foul language. For her supporters, it’s her opponents who are to blame — especially Democratic Party leaders for egging them on.

The reality, as we see it, is both sides bear some responsibility, and we all can do better.

Frankly, we were a bit surprised when Wyoming’s only congresswoman announced that she would hold a series of in-person town halls across the state this month. After all, the leader of her chamber, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had encouraged his colleagues to avoid such gatherings.

But we applauded Ms. Hageman for continuing to do what she’s done since shortly after she took office in early 2023 — meet constituents face to face, on their turf, providing updates on her work and answering their questions about events in our nation’s capital. By her tally, 75 such events have taken place during her relatively short time in office — at least three in each of the state’s 23 counties — and, until this month, she said, they “have occurred without incident, even though there has been spirited discussion with constituents at each one.”

The difference now? Rather than telling mostly friendly Republicans how she’s fighting the Biden administration on a whole host of issues, her audiences include disgruntled Democrats and some moderate Republicans who are opposed to the actions of President Donald Trump and members of his second administration, as well as the inaction of a Congress that, from their perspective, seems to go along with whatever the president wants.

Unfortunately, some of these opponents have chosen to be disruptive, rather than respectful of the congresswoman and those in the audience who came to hear her speak. In Laramie last week, protesters directed their anger at Ms. Hageman, drowning out any response they disagreed with. Similar behavior was on display at some of the five other events she held this month.

In addition, she and her staff in both Wyoming and Washington, D.C., have received “numerous, credible threatening phone calls and emails, currently being investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies,” according to a news release this week from her office. She noted that an attendee from the March 20 town hall in Wheatland “initiated a physical confrontation with staff, into which local police were forced to intervene.” And after describing the definition of “swatting” (calling in a false police report of a public safety emergency at someone’s home to draw an armed law enforcement response), her release said, “An incident at Hageman’s Cheyenne home in the last week confirms that she is the target of this national trend.”

While we have no details about the threatening calls and emails, a Wyoming Tribune Eagle reporter talked with the sheriff in Platte County, who said the Wheatland incident was a case of a woman in her 60s or 70s who got too close as Ms. Hageman was leaving and had to be held back. Cheyenne Police Chief Mark Francisco told the WTE he has no information about a “swatting” incident at her home, but that some pizza was delivered there that she hadn’t ordered.

Is this simply a case of an elected official who can’t stand up to pressure from those who disagree with her? Maybe. But it was also pretty clear before Friday’s scheduled town hall at Laramie County Community College that the event might quickly devolve into another shouting match, regardless of whether those doing the screaming were local residents or “activists” from other areas, as some have alleged.

LCCC officials had wisely decided to move the town hall from an auditorium to the large gymnasium in order to accommodate the anticipated crowd. Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told the WTE he had started to consider how many deputies would be needed to keep things peaceful.

This isn’t a productive way to share information with or hear from concerned citizens, and it’s a drain on public safety resources. When it comes to behavior at public events, we can do better.

The online format isn’t perfect, though. Ms. Hageman and her staff are now able to pre-screen questions, and the congresswoman can answer only those she wants to answer, rather than the unexpected and potentially confrontational ones from critics at in-person events. When it comes to transparency with and accountability to their constituents, elected officials like Ms. Hageman can do better.

Congressional leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have gone on television and said they have “people going into Republican districts and going after these Republicans who are voting (for the Trump agenda), and forcing them to either change their vote or face the consequences.” Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson is threatening to have Congress take action against judges who rule the administration’s actions are unconstitutional, saying “desperate times call for desperate measures.”

When it comes to controlling political rhetoric, and doing what’s best for our country and its citizens, both sides can do better.

At the end of the day, it’s obvious things have gotten out of hand. Many national elected officials seem more interested in protecting their own political futures than doing their jobs, and disgruntled citizens are so frustrated their anger is boiling out at public events. All of this has the potential to explode in some ugly, and possibly dangerous, ways.

We can — and must — do better.