A GOP lawmaker escorted by police from a town hall meeting in his Northern California district over the weekend says he will continue to hold open town hall meetings at home.
“I’m not going to stop meeting with my constituents because a disruptive element has emerged in the body politic,” Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) said in an interview with The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper.
McClintock was one of several Republican lawmakers to face taunts at recent constituent events held in their respective districts.
{mosads}Democrats seized on the headlines of such incidents, comparing them to the Tea Party movement starting in 2009, a comparison McClintock and fellow Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) dispute.
“This seems like political operatives have been hired, websites set up, on-the-ground dispatches and so forth — it seems highly coordinated compared to the organic nature of a Tea Party,” Roskam, who also faced rowdy crowds, said.
Veteran Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) explained that the Tea Party heated up during the summer of 2009 as then-President Barack Obama pressed for overhaul of the healthcare system and environmental regulations.
“This began literally the day after the election and [the Tea Party supporters] were coming out to actually oppose policies … It wasn’t nearly as organized as this is,” Cole said, noting that “people are allowed to exercise their constitutional right but, I don’t think it helps you when it degenerates into violence or shouting.”
For his part, McClintock says he’s going to be doing “a lot more security planning … and get much bigger venues” as precautions for his future town hall meetings.
Watch the video above to hear the lawmakers in their own words.