Wesley Bell’s first town hall since being elected to Congress started rocky and stayed rocky for more than an hour, during which only about 10 questions were asked and answered. For the most part, the Democratic congressman traded barbs with the scores of pro-Palestinian protesters eager to give him a piece of their mind.
As soon as the night’s emcee, Tracy Jackson, started to introduce Bell to the 300 or so people gathered at the old Post-Dispatch building downtown on Tuesday, the protesters let rip. They sang a sing-song chant of “Wesley Bell loves killing children.” and “Wesley Bell loves bombs and rockets” to the tune of “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain.”
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Replied Jackson: “We can do this the educated way. Or we can roll the hood way.”
Soon thereafter, police moved in to attempt to remove one of the protesters from the third row. But after a back-and-forth between protesters and police, the woman was allowed to stay. The majority white protesters continued yelling over the Bell supporters, who were majority Black and tended to be more reserved—though they became less so as the night progressed. A theme throughout the town hall was a tension between the pro-Palestinian protesters and those who were upset that the protests were crowding out conversation about local issues like gun violence and tornado recovery. Bell said at one point: “The number one killer of kids in St. Louis between ages one and 17 is gun violence, and there’s some people who want to talk about that.”
About 18 minutes in, as chanting and other interruptions continued, Jackson had someone come up and sing the national anthem, which actually went marginally better than one might expect.
After that, she read the first of the night’s questions, which she said had been pre-chosen from the audience: “What are you doing to fight back against the rise of authoritarianism and fascism coming from the Trump administration?”
Bell started talking about a strategy to push back against Trump through “litigation, legislation, and mobilization.” He said that because Democrats are in the minority, with minimal power, “it’s essential we bring the same energy to the elections next year.” This was said to the thumping beat of more protesters drumming outside the building.
Bell’s defeat last year of progressive U.S. Rep. Cori Bush embittered her supporters, who continue to feel that AIPAC bought the seat on Bell’s behalf. Bush was outspoken in her criticism of Israel even prior to October 7, in a way that some now say was prescient but her detractors said at times veered into antisemitism. Bell entered the race after Bush came under fire for criticizing the Jewish state in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks. He won the Democratic primary in August by five points, which all but guaranteed election in the staunchly Democratic district covering St. Louis city and part of St. Louis County.
Last night, the emcee’s second question was about Gaza, specifically asking for Bell’s response to claims that he is supporting a genocide and causing children to starve.
Bell’s answer only lasted seconds, until he referred to Gaza as being complicated, which set off the protesters, who were by now turned away from him in protest. Bell later finished the thought, saying, “There are a lot of complicated issues in this situation; feeding children is not one of them.” He outlined what he thought was the best way to bring peace to the region, which he said was informed by his trips there. He said he wanted to see aid surge into Gaze, an end to the war, a return of the Israeli hostages, and a plan to give Gaza a viable future without Hamas.
This brought Bell to the Hamas attacks on Israel that set off the current war. “Let’s talk about October 7,” Bell said, calling the large-scale attack on Israel “an incursion.”
This drew one of the largest uproars of the night, surpassed when only when Bell said, “When it comes to the word ‘genocide,’ I kind of disagree with it.”
He said, “If you’re accusing somebody of genocide,” you ought to look at Hamas, a genocidal terrorist group. “How do you get around that?” he asked.
Eventually the protesters were able to put some questions to Bell after staffers gave some of their members the mic. It was a young boy who asked about why infant formula wasn’t being allowed into Gaza. A woman asked about why Bell was siding not only with Israel but why he thanked Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who are separating families by detaining and deporting people at record levels. She asked if Bell did not see a parallel there. (Bell voted in favor of a resolution that expressed “gratitude” to ICE while condemning antisemitism.)
After about 90 minutes, the event began wrapping up. Bell had managed to keep his cool throughout, at times seeming to almost enjoy the trading of barbs.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the security officers ushering everyone out. The night had been raucous and rowdy but, until then, nonviolent.
As police and security were urging people to leave, one woman was manhandled by someone working security (some said he was a police officer, though he wore no obvious identification as such). Another person, also in the protesters’ camp, was thrown to the ground amid a mess of falling folding chairs. Prominent local activist Maxi Glamour was also shoved by police on their way out. In general, the event’s egress was a chaotic one.
No one seemed particularly happy afterward.
“He kept saying he wanted to have a conversation, but every time we tried to engage with him he said, ‘Stop yelling.’ He never offered to pass us the mic,” said Liz Linhares, who lives in Bell’s district. “He obviously had plants in the audience. Some of the questions were just thanking him for his service.” She added that, given the tornado that ripped through the city in May, Bell should have come sooner rather than taking a trip to Israel (Bell visited Israel earlier this month). “That’s who he really works for.”
On the other hand, DeJoneiro Jones, an artist who lives downtown, said he was upset he didn’t hear discussion of issues that affect him every day. “They got a huge drug situation going on downtown … mental health, all these people that’s [got] this mental [health] stuff going on. They are talking about Gaza, I mean, we need to be talking about stuff right here, right now.”
One attendee did give Bell kudos for even having the event, unlike other members of Missouri’s delegation, who are forgoing such town halls over worries about being met not with outrage about Gaza, but confronted over the actions of the Trump administration. Quipped one politico in attendance:
“Maybe folks will understand why Ann Wagner doesn’t host town halls.”
