LA GRANGE, IL – U.S. Rep. Sean Casten held a town hall Wednesday in La Grange. But protesters shut it down after 25 minutes, repeatedly calling him a war criminal.
This has been a trend at Casten’s town halls since last year.
The demonstrators come in quietly and spread throughout the audience before the meeting.
Then, once the Democratic congressman started speaking, a protester stood up and denounced Casten’s support for money for Israel, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza. Next, police removed the person.
After officers escorted the protester out, another one stood up to yell at the congressman. Then the pattern repeated itself.
This is the way it has happened in Darien and other towns throughout the 6th Congressional District, which is said to have the largest Palestinian American population in the United States.
Police were all over La Grange Village Hall, where the event was held. They were also watching the building from the next-door parking deck. Attendees were barred from coming in with bags.
Casten began by discussing President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” stating that it was the largest handout ever given to billionaires.
That’s when the first demonstrator stood up.
“The damage has already been done, and you voted for it,” the man yelled. “The blood of the people of Gaza is on your hands. The starving children of Gaza, you caused it, you caused it, you voted for it.”
Casten expressed concern about the killing in Gaza. Earlier in the day, he called for an investigation into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which he accused of “reckless distribution tactics” that have led to “mass panic and mass casualties.”
“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s blockade and GHF’s dangerously mismanaged aid sites are directly contributing to the ongoing starvation crisis,” Casten said on X.
One protester was among those unconvinced.
“You are standing against the genocide while you are funding it with our tax dollars,” she said. “Now you want to represent yourself as a humanitarian, while you quite literally voted for the bombing (and) created the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. That is not compassion. That is white saviorism, and we see through it.”
A woman who identified herself as a mother and teacher, asked Casten when he would feed the babies, calling him a war criminal.
As officers escorted her out, she yelled, “Get your f–ing hands off of me.”
Near the end of the short event, five people linked arms and chanted, “We are not stopping while Israeli bombs are dropping.”
Officers quickly approached to remove the group.
One woman repeatedly told officers, “You’re pulling my hair.” She screamed and said, “Sean Casten, you have blood on your hands.”
Shortly after, Casten walked out without any notice to the audience, just as he did in Darien last fall.
It was left to Ken Uher, La Grange’s deputy police chief, to tell the audience the event was over. He asked the audience to wait before leaving, so police could secure the area.
A few minutes later, La Grange Village President Mark Kuchler told people they were free to leave.
“Congressman Casten is done for the night,” he said.
During the town hall, protesters outside Village Hall could be heard.
Afterward, one of their leaders said they would stop the town hall tactic when Casten backs the Block the Bombs Act, which would stop military assistance to Israel.
Speaking about the town hall, the man asked the crowd about Casten, “What did that piece of s– do?”
“He ran,” someone said.
“He didn’t just run,” the speaker said. “He brought cops to attack black women, trans people, people of color and an Irishman. We are constituents of the Sixth Congressional District.”
Before the town hall, Patch asked a woman who had protested at a Casten town hall before about the strategy of refusing to let anyone ask questions of the congressman at his events.
She said the people of Gaza don’t get to hold town halls.
“You’re either on the right side of history or not,” the woman said.
Outside, she told Patch that she was designated as the eighth person to stand up and protest the congressman.
A woman yells at U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat, during his town hall Wednesday at La Grange Village Hall. (David Giuliani/Patch)
A man was the first protester to speak out Wednesday at U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s town hall at La Grange Village Hall. (David Giuliani/Patch)
Five people link arms to protest U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat, Wednesday as officers remove them from the room at La Grange Village Hall. (David Giuliani/Patch)
A protest leader speaks outside of La Grange Village Hall on Wednesday after U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s town hall, which demonstrators shut down. A young girl holds a Palestinian flag. (David Giuliani/Patch)
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten watches as a protester was removed Wednesday from the meeting room at La Grange Village Hall. (David Giuliani/Patch)
Officers escort a woman Wednesday out of the meeting room at La Grange Village Hall. (David Giuliani/Patch)
A woman protests U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat, on Wednesday at La Grange Village Hall. In an interview, she told Patch, “You’re either on the right side of history or not.” (David Giuliani/Patch)
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