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US Rep. Harriet Hageman cut her Casper College town hall short Tuesday – leaving the stage about five minutes early after a tense Q&A that turned into jeers and a breakdown in decorum over ICE conduct and two recent deadly incidents in Minnesota.
Only about a quarter (or fewer) of Wheeler Concert Hall’s seats were filled as Hageman spent the first 40 minutes running through her work on the Judiciary and Natural Resources committees, wins on congressional appropriations for Wyoming and her support for March for Life events in D.C. and Cheyenne. She touted $25.8 million she said she helped secure for state projects – including $3 million for the Natrona County Airport, $1 million for the Northern Arapahoe water treatment facility, about $800,000 for Casper police vehicles and $1.75 million for a North Platte sanitary sewer project – and described the bills as a rollback to a “Republican budget.”
But the tone flipped during the audience Q&A. A woman asked why Hageman hadn’t spoken out against “Fourth Amendment violations” by ICE and Border Patrol officers allegedly entering homes without judicial warrants. Hageman replied, “I don’t know that I trust your facts,” which drew immediate jeers.
AP News and others recently reported on a leaked DHS memo that a whistleblower says shows ICE was briefed to use an internal administrative warrant instead of a judge-signed one – a move the affidavit calls “a complete break from the law” that undercuts the Fourth Amendment. Hageman told the crowd she’d have to see the results of any investigation and said:
“If there’s violations of someone’s Constitutional rights, there is redress.”
That answer didn’t satisfy the questioner.
“As a Constitutional lawyer, you should be infuriated,” she fired back. “You should be incensed. They are not doing any investigation!”
Moments later, Hageman left the stage.
Earlier and later exchanges covered a lot of ground: Hageman pushed back on Biden-era restrictions on coal and praised protections for small Wyoming refineries under the Renewable Fuel Standard. She detailed work on laws to shield kids from online predators and on cracking down on “CDL mills,” including tougher English-language standards for commercial drivers – comments that won thanks from Kevin Hawley, president of the Wyoming Trucker’s Association.
Not everything landed. Murmurs rose when Hageman blamed climate policy for higher energy costs and described “nighttime” as “a catastrophic failure” for solar farms; someone in the crowd shot back, “That’s simply false.”
A student asked why Hageman hadn’t acknowledged the Minnesota victims – Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti – who were shot during ICE operations this month. Hageman said the events were “a terrible tragedy” and named the two victims when pressed. Former Democratic candidate Jane Ifland also demanded how Hageman could justify women in states with strict abortion bans being denied emergency care; Hageman replied she understood ectopic pregnancies and said medical care exists to address them.
The event ran about 45 minutes of an hour before Hageman left early. Oil City News says it has reached out to Hageman’s office for further comment.
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