U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell's first in-person town hall on Tuesday night got off to a rocky start as the first-term Democrat was met with contentious criticism from protesters about his support for Israel.
Bell and his staff struggled to get through a dozen questions over the course of 90 minutes in front of roughly 300 people as protesters interrupted and challenged the congressman’s positions.
“There's a lot of folks who don't want to have the conversation,” Bell told the crowd amid shouting. “They just want to spew what they think is important, but they don't want to have an actual debate because these are tough issues. So, now we're going to have the conversation — whether you like it or not.”
The condemnation from some in the crowd at the Post Building in downtown St. Louis largely drowned out support for Bell.
Attendee Saul Glist said he was unimpressed with the congressman’s response to some questions and to the crowd’s criticism.
“While he claims to represent us, while he claims to be fighting antisemitism, while he claims to speak for the Jewish community, the Jewish community here is angry,” Glist said. “The Jewish community here is firm in its stance against genocide, and I think this was the first time that, you know, that really got to be said clearly to him.”
The event ended with plainclothes security officers and police getting into a physical altercations with protesters who wouldn’t leave. Some attendees said they were choked, had their hair pulled and were shoved to the ground. No one was arrested.
Despite the struggles, Bell’s staff members said after the event they hope to continue with the town hall format in the future.
“I think we'll try to do more of these,” Bell told the crowd in his closing remarks. “But we gotta be able to talk, y'all.”
Bell, who repeatedly asked protesters to stop shouting and listen, said his position regarding the ongoing war in Gaza that’s killed thousands of Palestinians centers around dramatically increasing humanitarian aid to the region, ending the fighting, returning Israeli hostages and reshaping Gaza without the influence of Hamas.
Throughout the town hall, protesters chanted, among other things, that Bell supported genocide.
At one point, an attendee asked Bell about “the ongoing genocide in Palestine.” In his answer, the congressman questioned the use of the term genocide.
“Let's talk about the word genocide because we see that differently,” he said to the crowd, which was met with boos.
Maxi Glamour, who attended the town hall, said Bell’s answer didn’t acknowledge the truth.
“Wesley Bell wanted to argue for semantics so that he can have some ethical, moral standing ground that his complicitness isn't perpetuating the genocide, and he really failed on showing the community that he cared about it,” Glamour said after the event.
Addressing other issues
Bell criticized the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill for its reductions to programs like Medicaid and tax cuts for the wealthiest.
Winning back the majority in the midterm elections next year is crucial for his party to counteract that legislation, Bell said. “We have to do that — period.”
Bell also denounced potential mid-decade congressional redistricting in red states like Texas and Missouri at the request of President Donald Trump to help Republicans’ chances in next year’s elections.
Bell aligned with many national Democrats who say blue states like California and Illinois should redraw congressional districts in retaliation for red states attempting to redraw theirs.
“If that's what you're gonna do, we're gonna fight fire with fire,” he said.
However, Bell said he would be the first to sign onto legislation that bans partisan gerrymandering.
See more photos from the town hall by St. Louis Public Radio visuals editor Brian Munoz.
