Democrat Rep. Wesley Bell, right, and an unrelated pro-Gaza protest, left. (Getty Images)
Even calls to "surge aid" to Gaza were drowned out by demonstrators, prompting Bell to respond, "You disagree with that?"
Despite repeated pleas for calm from both Bell and his moderator, protesters continued to call him a "war criminal" and accuse him of supporting genocide.
The event grew more heated as the hour went on, reaching a fever pitch toward the end when Bell disputed a questioner labeling Israel’s invasion of Gaza a "genocide."
"You don’t get to set the genocide definition," an activist yelled.
Bell responded, "No, I don’t…and here’s the thing, people can disagree, that’s what makes our country great."
"When it comes to the word genocide, I kind of disagree with you...because Israel was attacked by an openly genocidal terrorist group," he said while protesters attempted to drown him out.
"Hamas said openly that they want to destroy Israel...and so you’re accusing somebody of genocide, you’re standing with an organization that says they want to commit genocide. You don’t see that?"
Anti-Israel demonstrators burn a U.S. flag on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 24, 2024. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
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"Let's do this the Democratic way, the democracy way. You can’t hear anyone yelling. I hear you. As a mixed-race person, I hear you," she told activists. "We can’t get through this if you are yelling and barking and acting like you want to get physical."
At the end of the night, however, Bell released a statement thanking all attendees for coming.
"I want to thank everyone that came out to our town hall this evening – yes the conversations were passionate at times, but Democracy is messy and we have to passionately defend it," Bell wrote on X. "At the end of the day we're going to continue to fight for the ST. LOUIS region and for our country."
Fox News Digital reached out to Bell’s office for further comment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrat-clashes-activists-over-israel-genocide-pro-palestinian-protests-derail-town-hall