Freshman Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) faced backlash over his support for Israel during a rowdy town hall event Tuesday night in downtown St. Louis.
Videos from the event show Bell repeatedly interjecting “Can we talk?” and “Let’s talk about it” as attendees shouted at him about the ongoing Middle East conflict and war in Gaza.
“When it comes to the word ‘genocide,’ I kind of disagree with it, because the bottom line is … Israel was attacked by an openly genocidal terrorist group,” he said at one point, referencing the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. “How do you get around that?”
“We need to end the war, we need to return every single hostage and Hamas has to go,” he continued.
Bell joined the House in January, unseating former Rep. Cori Bush (D), who has blamed pro-Israel groups for her defeat.
Bell, whose office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on Wednesday, thanked attendees with a post on the social platform X acknowledging the rancor.
“Yes the conversations were passionate at times, but Democracy is messy & we have to passionately defend it,” he wrote. “At the end of the day we’re going to continue to fight for the ST LOUIS region & for our country!”
The former St. Louis County prosecutor told local media after the event that he wasn’t surprised by the disruptions.
“I thought it would be a little even more contentious to be perfectly honest, because there’s a lot of people that are passionate about the issues, and we’re seeing this around the country,” Bell said.
He noted that lawmakers from both parties have faced similar disruptions across the country this year.
“People are scared; they’re concerned,” Bell said. “There’s issues that they’re passionate about, so let’s have those conversations. It’s important.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was jeered during a nonpartisan event in her district earlier this week.
