CASPER—U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman abruptly ended a town hall session here Tuesday evening and walked off the stage to booing and shouting from her constituents while others in the audience attempted to shout down her critics.
A series of impassioned questions regarding recent killings in Minneapolis at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers, as well as other ICE actions, prompted an escalating back-and-forth between questioners, the congresswoman and the audience at Casper College’s Wheeler Concert Hall while a half-dozen policemen stood guard.
A tall, dark-haired young man who said he was a Casper College student quizzed her about the killings. Hageman responded, “I haven’t talked about that. I spoke about the Laken Riley Act because it was one of the bills that we passed. I haven’t talked about what was going on in Minnesota.”
“Yeah. Why is that?” the student asked. “Why haven’t you said that you condemn the violence or given condolences to the families of the victims?”
“It hasn’t been the topic that we’ve been talking about today,” Hageman answered over rising jeers from the audience. “So I think what has happened in Minnesota is a terrible tragedy for the woman and the man who were killed,” she said, referring to U.S. citizens Alex Pretti, shot dead on Saturday, and Renée Good, shot dead on Jan. 7.
The student walked out of the concert hall, shouting retorts at the congresswoman as others applauded.
Casper resident Allyse Taylor continued the line of questioning, pressing Hageman about whether she adheres to the U.S. Constitution and whether she’s concerned about alleged ICE and Trump administration violations of the Fourth Amendment’s protections against warrantless search and seizure.
Audience members shouted references to a Department of Homeland Security internal memo that allegedly informed ICE agents they can enter homes without a judicial warrant.
“I think that I have to look at the investigation,” Hageman responded, prompting a chorus of guffaws. “If there were violations of someone’s constitutional rights, there is redress.”
“Then why is there no redress?” Taylor asked, and implored Hageman to demand transparency of investigations of the ICE killings. “They are killing American citizens in the streets, and you are doing nothing. You are not saying a single solitary thing to support constituents or to support the American people. As a constitutional lawyer, you should be infuriated. You should be incensed. Why are you not?”
Hageman then gathered her folders, waved goodbye to the audience and exited the stage through a side door while people booed and one man shouted “coward” and “chickenshit.”
Hageman touts accomplishments
Hageman, who recently announced her Senate bid to replace retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis, began the town hall event by noting it was her first of the year, and that she intends to continue to make good on her promise to visit each of Wyoming’s 23 counties annually.
Her team allotted one hour for the town hall. Hageman spent the first 30 minutes recapping her recent accomplishments in Congress.
She voted in favor of the continuing budget resolution while helping to secure about $3 million for the Casper/Natrona County International Airport, $1 million for a Northern Arapahoe water treatment facility and more than $1.6 million for reconstruction of the Fort Laramie canal tunnel, which collapsed more than six years ago.
Hageman also touted her work to advance the Grasslands Grazing Act, sexual predator legislation and anti-abortion measures. She blamed recent winter-storm-related power outages in the eastern U.S. on Obama and Biden policies to steer electrical generation away from coal and toward renewable energy. Hageman tied the inordinate volume of truck-driver-related deaths along Interstate 80 in Wyoming to immigrants who can’t speak or read English and touted a measure to allow “18 to 20-year-old” truck drivers to legally cross state lines.
Existing laws present “a barrier,” Hageman said, adding that her congressional work will make sure “that our 18 to 20-year-olds are getting the training and can have the career — that really fabulous career — as truck drivers.”
Among the most common questions she’s asked, Hageman said, before taking questions, is “How do we keep more of our young people in the state of Wyoming?
“The key … is you have to have good jobs and you have to have housing — and housing prices across the country are astronomical.” That’s because of past policies that inhibit logging the nation’s forests, Hageman said, leaving housing developers prone to skyrocketing lumber prices from other countries.
It’s why, in the GOP-led Big Beautiful Bill, “We’re requiring the U.S. Forest Service to sell 250 million board-feet, and we’re also requiring that they enter into 20-year lease contracts with our timber companies — so that these companies can invest in what they need to, but they know that they’ll have those contracts in the long term.”
Rising housing and rental costs have outpaced incomes while new construction lags — which some blame on overly burdensome permitting, according to a recent analysis by the Wyoming Community Development Authority. The analysis also suggests that an aging population and youth out-migration are factors.
Continuation of contention?
About a dozen people were still in line to ask Hageman a question when she walked off the stage — about five minutes before the allotted time was up.
It’s not the first time Hageman has seen criticism and discord at her town hall events.
She described some audience members at a March 2025 town hall in Laramie as “hysterical” and was booed in Pinedale last year after asserting that the 2009 endangerment finding — the federal doctrine to combat air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions — was “based on false science.”
“I would prefer that people use diplomacy and be polite, because more people would have a chance to ask their questions,” Natrona County Commissioner Dave North told WyoFile after the town hall event. “There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. But being disruptive and not showing diplomacy, that’s where we run into problems.”
Taylor, who asked Hageman about constitutional violations, had a different take on the town hall event.
“I had hoped that, at least on the Second Amendment front, [Hageman] would display some sort of integrity in what she claims to stand for,” Taylor told WyoFile. “Especially in a state that is so big on gun rights.”
After agents killed Pretti, President Donald Trump and others in his administration suggested that the 37-year-old intensive care nurse shouldn’t have brought a gun while protesting ICE. Video shows Pretti did not brandish the weapon ahead of the shooting, despite misleading statements from some in the Trump administration.
“I had hoped that maybe there would be some sort of recognition,” Taylor added, “that that really critical right for so many people here was in danger of being violated. That there was some hypocrisy in the way that these federal administration [officials] are talking about it, that she would, at the very least, recognize that. But I prepared myself to be disappointed, to be perfectly honest.”
Hageman’s next Wyoming town hall event will be from 2-3 p.m. Thursday in Thermopolis, at the Hot Springs County Museum.
Dustin, Thank you for a fair accounting of the meeting for those of us not there.
So sad that one of our most important National Representatives cannot answer some simple questions without feeling threatened.
I guess it says a lot about her temperament, and who she has chosen to “represent”…
Harriet Hageman will not answer any question from her constituents or enter into a debate that is not approved by Donald Trump.
WE MUST VOTE HER OUT!
This woman absolutely cannot become one of Wyoming’s senators.
I will always have issues with any GOP candidates, but I would happily vote for anyone who opposes Hageman for the nomination.
Matt Gordon? JD Williams? Curt Meir? Tara Nethercot?
Please, Wyoming Caucus! Recruit someone.
I’m thinking any straight shooter Republican who wants the job can easily outpace Hageman in a Republican primary. Electing a Democrat is a heavy lift but who knows. In any case hopefully Wyoming can do better.
100%
Wyoming voted for this in the last election……. look at yourselves in a mirror and explain that…..
Look, the GOP is NOT about solving problems. They are all about pointing out things they believe are problems, making up things and treating them as problems and then blaming the Democrats for nothing getting done.
My suggestion to Lefties is that they stop thinking with their glands, and start thinking with their brains. By the way, there is nothing liberal about Leftism.
Just like there is nothing conservative about conservatism?
Glands don’t think. Where did you learn that? UW?
Nancy, thank you for the real facts of Kent State. I am so sorry for the memories, something you can never get over. It must have been an awful and terrifying day for everyone who was close to it. The guardsmen shooting the students, all so young. It’s not a great comparison, I know. Just hearing of ICE shooting protesting citizens just made me think of the situation in Ohio as shocking as it is. More troops shooting citizens, and the aftermath that the people in charge try to completely disregard the facts. No accountability. Take care, Nancy.
As before she melted down when challenged. She’s unworthy of being a House member *or* a Senator.
The disparaging comparison of Ms. Hageman’s actions to “chicken$*!+” was crass and uncalled for. Chickens deserve more credit than that for putting some quantifiable effort into their contributions.
In this article, Natrona County Commissioner Dave North is quoted as saying in part, “I would prefer that people use diplomacy and be polite.” This is Mr. North asking that people be civil. He is apparently unaware that civility is often vastly overrated.
Civility can be a means of preserving oppression. Civility is a demand for orderly, accommodating discourse. It is how the comfortable tamp down the righteous dissent of the dominated.
It is often a code word for capitulation to those who want to destroy us. Asking for civility is often the same as asking that we surrender to the enemy.
And remember – Anyone trying to kill you is the enemy.
This is a famous quote from Joseph Heller’s novel “Catch-22.” It is spoken by the novel’s protagonist, Capt. Yossarian, while arguing with his Harvard-educated dim-bulb colleague Clevinger. It means that anyone trying to kill you is the enemy, regardless of whose side he is allegedly on.
Hageman is doing Trump’s bidding as people in Wyoming elected her to do.Maybe it’s time for a change, guys.
The purpose of a town hall is: “attendees use town halls to voice their opinions and question elected officials, political candidates, and public figures. or an event at which a politician or official answers questions from members of the public.” There you have it. Hageman spends half of the time regurgitating her “accomplishments”. Self promotion in it’s finest. What did she do while the House was recessed during the 43 day government shut down? Politicians are accountable to their constituents, when they start to realize this fact and honestly address constituents concerns then the angst will moderate. When people feel helpless and nobody addresses their concerns in an honest above board manner that’s when shouting starts, cause politicians aren’t listening. All members of the US Congress need to grow a back bone and start using the brain that they were born with. And to people that get their “news” from social media, try embracing being an informed, enlightened thinker.
The videos I’ve so far seen from the events in Minneapolis suggest indiscriminate use of violence by ICE. I think of Kent State, when the National Guard shot 13 student protestors, 5 of whom died, and 1 who was permanently paralyzed. The same outcomes then are exactly what’s happening in Minneapolis: Guard members said students had guns and were shooting at them. Eventually, a bench trial was held and found no guilt of the Guardsmen. Republican Nixon (our other former criminal President) had announced expanding involvement in Cambodia, as college students across the country were protesting the Vietnam war, which expanded to 4 million student protesters after the shootings. When elected, Nixon lied about having a secret plan to end the war, (sound familiar?) Students were unarmed but engaged in rock throwing. The government supported the lies about what happened there. As we become more engaged in what’s happening Minneapolis, my opinions are simply made by really not knowing anything about the situation. As my good friend used to say, “Opinions are like a___holes, everyone has one.” I went to Hageman’s first town hall, held before the election, here in Cheyenne at the library. She supported everything Trump then, as did the majority of the audience: release the J-sixers, the 2020 election was stolen and voting machines are not to be trusted, there is nothing but pedophiles in the school system, etc. Mr. Fox has delusions that it’s Democrats who are fomenting the Grand Revolution, but how can he actually look around at what’s going on and not see that it is Trump and all his cohorts who are causing the downfall of our country. The number of illegal immigrants is Trump’s fault. Congress was working on new partisan immigration legislation before the election, (which their job, by the way), Trump told them to stop because he wanted to run on immigration policy for his campaign. What a joke. Open your eyes Mr. Fox to what’s happening around this state: an AI center was just OK-ed by Laramie County Commissioners that could be the largest in the US. It will use tons of water in one of the most arid locations in the state, will supposedly have its own power plant, using up to 12 gigs of energy to run its banks and banks of computers. Are we in the county supposed to be happy about this? Instead of worrying about what’s happening in Minneapolis, maybe we should be petitioning our supposed “leaders” here for working for Trump agendas instead of the people who voted from them. All of our electeds should be grilled, but we must listen in silence to their answers, deflected as they are, because dialogue is key.
Linda, I was in Kent, Ohio, May 4th, 1970. Some differences from Minneapolis: Tanks were stationed at street intersections. Helicopters would shine lights in our back yards.
I was also on campus that day, working the breakfast shift in a dorm near the shooting.
On my way to work, guardsmen at the street intersections (with the tanks) would stop me to talk. They said they had been up all night and needed someone to talk to. The guardsmen were young, my age.
While doing my early morning breakfast shift in the dorm, there was an announcement that came from the PA system. “There has been a shooting. We are in lock down. They are bringing the wounded into our lounge.” Looking out the windows I saw students running past, crying.
Outcome? Unarmed students, some involved in the protest, others going to class. Young guardsmen with little or no sleep, standing in a line on top of a hill brandishing guns. (and apparently being hit with rocks). All it took is one call of fire!
Oh, how it brought back memories of seeing Patrol in Minneapolis shoot and walk away. Alex’s body laying dead, by himself, and Jeffrey Miller’s body lying dead, by himself.
The tears don’t stop.
Thanks for this reminder if history.
I am entertained.
If watching people justifying right wing death squads operating in America tickles your fancy. I find it repulsive and the kids asking Harriet these questions have far more humanity and knowledge of what is right, than the supposed “adults in the room”.
Waiting for SCOTUS…pathetic. Administrative warrants would allow the right wing death squads to write their own permission to execute a law abiding citizen. The kids know their parents have left them a broken planet and a corrupt SCOTUS.
Throwing away our Constitution for a narcissistic, dementia addled man seems to make the GOP proud and even a kid can see those plain facts.
That young man came there with a chip. He should first of all be spanked by his mother for being so disrespectful. When you ask someone a question at least give them the opportunity to answer. I am embarrassed for his childish behavior. Come prepared and act like an adult if you are going to an adult forum.
Pot meet kettle.
Take a look at Hageman’s questioning of Jack Smith, as seen on her “Wyoming Roundup” issue posted 1-25-2026. Now tell me about letting someone answer a question.
Perfect, thank you
Please, can we find a better person to elect to the US Senate? She obviously kisses the feet of trump and is seriously uninformed or playing dumb. I’m appalled. Good job calling her on the carpet. God bless America. She needs to go.
coward!
looks like a packed house?
MAGA ~ “Make America Gunless Adolf!”!!!!!!
I’ve found that I have to check Hageman’s claims when she speaks. For instance the article quotes her as saying that the Big Beautiful Bill requires the Forest Service to sell 250 million board feet of lumber per year. Is that in addition to the 2.5 to 3.0 billion board feet they already harvested on Forest Service land or is that a total minimum number? There is about 50 billion board feet of lumber used in the U.S. per year. 250 million board feet in only about a half of a percent of the total used. She doesn’t explain much such as her claim of “false science” regarding air pollution studies. Explain yourself Harriet. What science are you talking about? Another thing, is it really responsible to have an 18 year old driving a big rig from Cheyenne to Rawlins in the winter. Seems sketchy.
Most comes from overseas
These college age kids know nothing except for what they have been taught by the Marxist school curriculum. Progressives have turned our children into Marxist robots and that kid proves it. His agenda was to disrupt the meeting. If it wasn’t about Minnesota it would have been something else.
Can you give me a definition of Marxism? I
I think Rep Hageman made the right decision to side step these immigration legal questions until the SCOTUS clarifies if ICE Administrative warrants suffice or if judicial warrants are a must before entering a home. Throw in birthright citizenship and deportation due process details too. Let the courts hash these out.
We have tens of millions of illegals now in our country. In the cities where they’ve been somewhat pulled out, crime rates have plummeted to historic lows. But obviously the Left isn’t interested in that. They need ballots, bodies to pad the census using both to maximize Dem power. Business wants slave labor. And they all want Trump out so the Grand Revolution can continue to deconstruct our nation. I don’t look forward to spring when the Left burns our cities to the ground … again.
The Grand Revolution? Don’t you mean Project 2025.
We know that people from other countries are doing a lot of work. My grandparents were immigrants. Everyone’s were.
Representative Hageman was thoughtful and professional about a tragedy that needs investigating and once we know the facts, lessons can be learned and justice sought if needed. Shouting by the crowd and not letting her answer is not the Wyoming way. Shame on the clowns.
Sounds like all of the past “town hall” (with scripted questions) events. Hageman won’t answer the tough questions. Coward
she never answers questions
It’s typical of her “town hall meetings” where she limits the time, then comes out and she gives her speech for the majority of the time period to limit time for Q&A, and then deflects and won’t answer any any real hard questions. She returns to her talking points over and over without answering any question being asked. And then she wonders why people are upset.
Of course she left early. She supports all of trumps illegal killings. Only her and trumps special people get due process.
How does that old saying go, “when the going gets tough, the tough…exit stage right?”
Per Commissioner Dave North, “There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. But being disruptive and not showing diplomacy, that’s where we run into problems.”
It appears to me that Hageman caused the disruption by trying to evade questions and not giving direct answers.
Amazing that Wyoming voters vote for her. She seems to traffic in excuses and deflection rather than response and accountability. She doesn’t know how to manage interpersonal conflict. She comes across as evasive, condescending and weak. Wyoming can do much better…certainly not worse.
Perhaps if the good folks of the Wyoming Republican Party would give us better choices in the Primary election we might have more attentive folks elected.
Well that went well
She’s not on a listening tour, she’s on a smoke and mirrors tour. The request for “diplomacy” appears to be a plea to stand still while we blow more smoke up your yinyang. She has no answers for real problems people are facing, just more talking points that are assigned to her from Washington.
No, I for one am not entertained.
Entertained? What about any of these political theatrics is entertaining? It’s disgusting. Not entertaining. Those who find the slaughter of people in the streets by the minions of the orange menace acceptable or even entertaining
I’m glad to see that she is supporting bills that hold sexual predators accountable. I hope that she supports the release of the Epstein files, in full disclosure!
Look folks, the Hag needs to go. She doesn’t represent the people of Wyoming. Like the rest of her ilk, she rides on trumps shirt tail.
Gordon, the people of Wyoming obviously disagree with you.
The 70% that voted for Trump may still be with her Chad, but as you can see by some of these other comments, it’s hardly everyone in Wyoming like you’ve insinuated that approve of Hageman. The upcoming election will tell how many people are still drinking the MAGA kool-aid and how many have discovered that they were bamboozled once again by these republicans in office. Time will tell….
I didnt say everyone, 70% is an overwhelming majority/mandate when 50.1% is all it takes in a “democracy”.
Dissatisfaction will be measured this upcoming election cycle, but theres a snowballs chance in hell that the percentage of “kool aid drinkers” drops lower than even 60%.
And certainly even loss of trump support wont drive voters from a Republican to a Democrat in Wyoming.
“the people of Wyoming” sure made it sound like you meant everyone Chad….and I certainly didn’t need a lesson on what a majority is made up of.
Maybe I’m just a misguided eternal optimist but I’ll take that any day over waking up in the morning feeling that there isn’t at least a chance of a better tomorrow, where the state that I was born and raised finally regains it’s decency and starts paying attention to who is on the ballot rather than which party they are affiliated with. You must not be as old as I am because I remember when a good democrat had a fighting chance of being elected in this state, and many of them were.
We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath.
Agreed Gordon. Our neighbors haven’t exactly shown good judgement in electing decent people lately that’s for sure.
You are absolutely right. All the people in Wyoming don’t disagree with you despite what some say. There are a lot of people in Wyoming who still have humanity and respect for the constitution and don’t agree with the agenda of the convicted pedophile, rapist in the White House.
joe biden is no longer in the white house and he was never asked about showering with his daughter that she wrote about in her dairy that joe’s DOJ went to investigate with the FBI how quickly we forget what real teary is…
“Are you not Entertained?”
Maximus Kills Commodus Scene ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHVwaOOsYdY