Anti-Israel protests prompt early end to Casten town hall; congressman escorted out by police

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove ended a scheduled suburban town hall shortly after it started Oct. 17 because of disruptions by anti-Israel protesters.

Casten was escorted out of the Indian Prairie Library in Darien by police as a safety precaution, library Executive Director Laura Birmingham said.

Casten, whose 6th District includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties and has one of the nation’s largest Palestinian-American populations, discussed the event’s premature end in a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.

“This evening, my town hall was forced to shut down after 10 minutes when protesters interrupted and refused to allow the event to continue,” Casten wrote. “I apologize to the majority of people who came and were respectful but were unable to ask their questions.”

Casten has been a target of anti-Israel demonstrators several times since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel and killed, wounded or kidnapped hundreds of civilians Oct. 7, 2023, leading to an ongoing war in Gaza.

In November 2023, protesters staged a sit-in in Casten’s Glen Ellyn office. During this spring’s primary election season, protesters interrupted political forums he and other candidates attended. Casten is seeking reelection to a fourth term.

Casten has held dozens of town hall meetings with constituents since taking office in 2019. About 100 people attended the Oct. 17 event, Casten spokesperson Chloe Hunt estimated, including fewer than a dozen demonstrators.

Darien police were on-site as a precaution, Birmingham said. That’s typical when legislators hold public events at the library, she said.

The protesters interrupted the discussion by shouting, Hunt said. Each time Darien police escorted a protester out of the meeting room, “another one would stand up to yell,” Hunt said.

Once other attendees began yelling back at the demonstrators, Casten and his team decided to stop the event, Hunt said.

In his social media remarks, Casten said he was saddened by the meeting’s early end. The collective promise of a town hall, he wrote, is that everyone will be able to share their concerns and ideas.

“Interrupting, screaming, accusing good people who share goals but disagree about the best way to achieve those goals of unspeakable atrocities is the opposite of that,” Casten wrote. “It does not accelerate peace, does not bring hostages home, does not reduce the radicalization that has occurred on both sides of the green line since 10/7 and doesn’t lead to a greater democratic wisdom.”

Casten’s Republican challenger in this fall’s election, Glen Ellyn resident Niki Conforti, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Birmingham, who was in the library during the gathering but not in the meeting room, called the situation unfortunate. The library should be a safe place to come together and talk about issues respectfully, she said.

“It just didn’t happen (Oct. 17),” Birmingham said.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241018/us-congress-politics/anti-israel-protests-prompt-early-end-to-casten-town-hall-congressman-escorted-out-by-police/