A reporter was kicked out of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's town hall and threatened with arrest for asking a question
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held a town hall in Dalton, Georgia, Wednesday evening.
- A reporter said she was kicked out for trying to ask a question and threatened with arrest.
- A spokesperson for Greene said the reporter was a "disruption" at the event.
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A local TV reporter said she was threatened with arrest and removed from a town hall meeting with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Wednesday night for asking a question.
Meredith Aldis, a reporter with the Chattanooga, Tennessee, station WRCB, tweeted that she attended the meeting in Dalton, Georgia, and was told she was not allowed to ask questions to Greene or anyone else in the building.
Footage of Aldis and Greene's interaction can be seen around the 38-minute, 14-second mark of the freshman representative's Facebook livestream of the event.
Aldis can be heard trying to ask Greene a question before the congresswoman interjects.
"I'm talking to my constituents," Greene said. "This isn't a press conference."
Aldis responded by saying "I'm a taxpayer" in defense of her right to ask a question, but Greene did not respond and moved on to another question that had been submitted before the event.
"Right when she started asking you could tell Marjorie was getting flustered," Patrick Filbin, a Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter who was also at the event, told Insider.
He said a representative for Greene quickly approached Aldis and, after a brief exchange, the representative waved over two deputies.
"It was instant, like they were taking no chances," Filbin said.
—Patrick Filbin (@PatrickFilbin) January 28, 2021
WRCB reported that Whitfield County Sheriff deputies threatened to arrest Aldis and the photojournalist who was with her. The station reported they told the deputies they had the credentials to be there.
In a statement to WRCB, a spokesperson for Greene said Aldis was removed because she caused a "disruption."
Filbin said he was also told that reporters were not allowed to ask questions and that if they did, they would be escorted out.
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He said the event was attended by citizens who signed up in advance and submitted questions. Greene was responding to those and taking some from the audience.
Aldis was trying to ask Greene about the recent reports that she expressed support online for violence against prominent Democrats, WRCB reported.
In 2019, Greene liked a Facebook comment that suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi get a "bullet to the head." In 2018, she also responded to a comment about hanging Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by saying "stage is being set." CNN first reported those actions.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez introduced legislation Wednesday to expel Greene from the House in response to the reports.
Filbin, who covers northern Georgia and has attended public events with Greene in the past, said he had never seen a reporter get removed from one.
He said, however, that he has seen Greene actively avoid responding to questions from reporters.
He said it seems like "when she is doing things just for her constituents, she doesn't want to deal with the press."
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