Following a March town hall in Wheatland, an elderly woman approached Rep. Harriet Hageman and spoke in an “aggressive manner” with her hands close to the representative’s face, a …
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Following a March town hall in Wheatland, an elderly woman approached Rep. Harriet Hageman and spoke in an “aggressive manner” with her hands close to the representative’s face, a Wheatland Police Department report released to WyoFile this week shows.
One of Hageman’s staff members moved between the elderly woman and the lawmaker, and a Wheatland police officer took hold of the elderly woman’s wrists. The woman apologized and walked away, according to the report. No charges were filed and the officer does not appear to have taken down the woman’s name.
There were no other incidents that required law enforcement either during or after the event, according to Wheatland Police Sgt. Dalton Minsaas’ report.
Hageman cited the Wheatland incident as one of the safety threats that spurred her to move her town halls online for a time. Hageman this week restarted in-person town halls in Buffalo and Dayton, but required people to register for them ahead of time.
The Wheatland police report aligns with Hageman’s account of the incident, but provides more detail.
“An attendee followed Hageman leaving the venue and initiated a physical confrontation with staff, into which local police were forced to intervene,” Hageman’s staff wrote in their March statement about moving town halls online.
The March 20 Wheatland town hall followed a raucous event in Laramie the night before, where Hageman was booed and heckled by people upset by the actions of President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. Still, law enforcement at the Laramie event told WyoFile there were no incidents and officers did not remove anyone.
In Wheatland, security was significant and led by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. Four Wheatland PD officers joined deputies guarding the event, with different assignments, according to a second police report released to WyoFile, this one written by Sgt. Russell Swingle.
Constituent anger
Republican lawmakers nationwide have faced anger and indignation from their constituents when they’ve returned from Washington, D.C. to their home states, as the Musk-led DOGE initiative continues to sharply reduce and restructure government programs.
Hageman cast the people who heckled her in Laramie and elsewhere as organized protesters, and some conservatives falsely suggested they had come into the state from elsewhere to flood the events — or were even paid protesters.
The police reports show Hageman faced upset constituents in Wheatland too.
“During the town hall, I could hear ‘boos’ from the crowd,” wrote Swingle, who was posted in the lobby of Wheatland High School, where the town hall was held.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.