A Wisconsin woman says she was kicked out of a recent Eau Claire town hall hosted by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after attempting to film three men in MAGA hats being denied entry into the event.
“They’ve got people going to some of the Republican town halls and intentionally starting chaos and trouble, and then they turn around and block Republicans from going into their town halls. It’s just horrible and hypocritical. It really is,” Katrina Patterson told Fox News Digital.
“The only reason they had to kick me out was the fact that I was catching them on camera, doing something wrong that they knew they shouldn’t do,” Patterson added.
Patterson said she was hoping to ask Walz about potential cuts to Medicare and Social Security, but was told to leave and locked outside before the town hall began.
“A Wisconsin woman was removed from a town hall hosted by Democratic Minnesota Gov. Gov. Tim Walz in Eau Claire last week after she filmed organizers blocking Trump supporters from entering.” https://t.co/nQHF9VxVvb
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 27, 2025
Democrats say town halls are ‘inclusive’
Walz’s town hall series comes as the national Democratic Party launched an initiative called “People’s Town Halls,” promoted as “open” and “inclusive” forums for constituents to have their voices heard—even in Republican-held districts. But Patterson said Walz’s event felt more like a “secret society” designed to shut out dissenting viewpoints.
“Tim Walz and the Democrats are claiming that my congressman won’t listen to his constituents, but yet we’ve got proof of them blocking Republicans from coming into their town hall,” Patterson told Fox News Digital. “It’s really hypocritical. It makes it abundantly obvious that their town halls aren’t real. For lack of a better word, they’re fake town halls because they only want to hear from Democrats.”
Walz frames events as giving voice to red districts
Walz has framed his tour as a way to give a voice to people in red districts after the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) reportedly encouraged its members to stop holding in-person town halls following disruptions from protesters.
“I’m hitting the road, traveling to red states across the country to lend a megaphone to the people. Your congressman may not want to listen, but they’re going to hear from us anyway,” Walz said in an X post announcing the tour.
I’m hitting the road, traveling to red states across the country to lend a megaphone to the people.
Your congressman may not want to listen, but they’re going to hear from us anyway.https://t.co/Xat0jYqHrc
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) March 13, 2025
NRCC calls the tour political theater
But critics say the events are more about political showmanship than genuine dialogue. The NRCC dismissed the tour as an act of partisan performance.
“Clearly, this political theater was designed to only engage Democrats with no real interest in listening to voters who rejected their out-of-touch agenda,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital following the Eau Claire event. “Yet another embarrassing charade on Walz’s walk of shame.”
Ironically, Walz’s own political origin story involves being denied entry to a 2004 rally for former President George W. Bush, though reports have cast doubt on the accuracy of that story.
Alpha News reached out to Gov. Walz’s office comment but did not get a response.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
