PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A town hall hosted by Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden was called off after pro-Palestine organizers gathered at the event.
The Democratic senator was slated to lead a Josephine County town hall at Rogue Community College in Grants Pass at 4 p.m. on Monday. But Wyden’s spokesperson, Hank Stern, said the meeting was delayed when some protesters took over the event.
“Because keeping the audience safe at any of the senator’s town halls must be paramount, the college president announced that yesterday’s Josephine County town hall was postponed after it became apparent a dozen or so protesters would not allow the other 250 attendees to speak,” Stern wrote in a statement. “As at every one of the senator’s previous 1,131 previous town halls, every opportunity would have been presented to any Oregonian to exercise their First Amendment rights and ask him any question. Unfortunately, a small group of people did not allow that to happen yesterday.”
In several videos shared on TikTok, protesters are seen interrupting the beginning of the town hall while holding Palestinian flags, singing and chanting.
While Wyden wasn’t involved in any physical altercation himself, he was soon escorted out of the event after another attendee pushed two demonstrators away. KOIN 6 is working to confirm whether the attendee worked for officials.
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack against Israel in October 2023, marking a major development in what Wyden later referred to as “mushrooming” conflict in the Middle East.
The senator, born to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, previously said Israel “has the right to defend itself.” He has also condemned President Donald Trump’s “declared support for forcibly displacing millions of Palestinians.”
In late July, Wyden was one of several U.S. senators who struck down Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s efforts to block federal officials from selling bombs and firearms to Israel. His fellow Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley voted in favor of both resolutions proposed by the former presidential nominee.
Jashayla Pettigrew
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