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What was supposed to be a thoughtful Spokane town hall turned into an angry protest on Monday. And Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) says he knows why.

Baumgartner explained that while he appreciates the community involvement in town halls, Monday’s event was derailed by radical activists who planned their disruptions.

“I like doing town halls,” Baumgartner explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “I believe in them. As I always say, whether you’re one of the 61% of people that voted for me or the 39% that didn’t, I work for both those groups, and I want to hear their ideas and opinions, so I like doing town halls. But what had happened at the event was the far-left groups, and kind of more radical fringe groups, had been informed about that the event was coming and been in close contact with the event hosts, and so the minute that the event went live, they snatched up all the tickets.”

Baumgartner believes the groups bought out all of the tickets so that no conservative voices were in the crowd. However, he still enjoyed the discussion.

“Overall, except for a few exceptions — like some of the antisemitic activity that went on — it was a good town hall, and I enjoyed doing it, despite all the protests and some of the behavior,” he shared.

Pestered by activist groups

The same groups who took over the town hall have been frequently protesting outside Baumgartner’s office, he explained.

“It’s the same groups nationally that are not interested in these town halls so much, actually having a conversation,” he said. “It’s that they want a public setting where they can demonstrate their ideas and then there’s obviously an organized democratic political element to it as well. They want to create the perception that Republicans and what we’re doing in Washington is not popular, or the American people are angry, which is actually not the truth.”

Baumgartner shared that he wished the town hall could have provided room for legitimate people who wanted to engage with Congress, especially college students, since the town hall took place at Whitworth University.

“You would hope that the college students would both be able to engage and then also see a better example of civility and just decency and kind behavior from adults,” he said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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