Disruptions over war in Gaza prompt early end to Casten town hall
Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove ended a scheduled suburban town hall shortly after it started Thursday night because of disruptions by people protesting the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Casten subsequently 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 contains one of the nation’s largest Palestinian-American communities, 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 protestors 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 demonstrators several times since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel and killed, wounded or kidnapped hundreds of civilians on Oct. 7, leading to a protracted war in Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead.
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 Casten and other candidates attended. Casten is seeking reelection to a fourth term.
About 100 people attended Thursday’s forum. One Darien police officer was present at the start of the meeting, Deputy Chief Jason Norton said. More arrived once tensions escalated.
Standing at a lectern with a microphone, Casten tried to talk to the crowd but was shouted down by a woman angry about the United States’ support of Israel, video available on YouTube shows. After Casten asked the woman to sit down so he could respond, she continued yelling.
Darien police escorted the woman out of the room, but disruptions continued. Demonstrators yelled at Casten and fellow audience members, and some people shouted back.
Eventually, the event was halted.
While some attendees debated the issue as they left the meeting room, a masked demonstrator harangued attendees outside the library. He called people white supremacists, repeatedly yelled at one woman and told her to “go home and stay there,” video shows.
No one was arrested, Norton 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 Friday.
Birmingham 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 last night,” Birmingham said.