Protesters outside the Lansing, Mich., office of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, on March 21, 2025, lead chants of “one term Tom” and “we can’t bear it” while organizers deliver more than 1,800 petition signatures calling on the first-term member of Congress to hold an in-person town hall. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Grassroots organizers delivered more than 2,000 petition signatures to the Lansing office of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) demanding that the first-term congressman hold an in-person town hall meeting.
Barrett held a telephone town hall earlier in the month, following guidance from the House GOP’s campaign arm to avoid backlash at in-person meetings.
But the information to call in for that meeting didn’t reach everyone who registered for the event, and some Democrats have expressed concern that the only participants allowed to ask questions during virtual events would be Republican supporters.
Curtis Hamilton, one of the organizers who delivered the petitions Friday, said that the protesters “feel that he is not listening and that he is going through filters, and we just want to talk to him unfiltered.”
Petitions were also delivered to the office of U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) earlier in the week.
Reporters and several constituents were blocked from following the organizers into Barrett’s office, as the doors were locked and district director Ron Kendall said it is not a public office. Signs warning that photography is not allowed inside without permission have been added to the door after a previous protest at Barrett’s office.
Barrett spokesperson Michael Gordon did not immediately respond to a request for comment about who is allowed to visit the freshman representative’s district office.
But Hamilton said Kendall assured the organizers who made an appointment to visit the office that their message would be delivered, even if he could not commit to Barrett’s attendance at an April 22 town hall sponsored by the NAACP.
“We said we’ll have a chair on stage for him whether he shows up or not,” Hamilton said over chants of “we can’t bear it” and “one term Tom” from the crowd gathered outside the office.
The doors to the Lansing, Mich., office of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, are locked and display signs warning that photos are not allowed inside without permission on March 21, 2025, as grassroots organizers deliver more than 1,800 petition signatures calling on the first-term member of Congress to hold an in-person town hall. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
The doors to the Lansing, Mich., office of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, are locked and display signs warning that photos are not allowed inside without permission on March 21, 2025, as grassroots organizers deliver more than 1,800 petition signatures calling on the first-term member of Congress to hold an in-person town hall. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Protesters outside the Lansing, Mich., office of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, on March 21, 2025, lead chants of “one term Tom” and “we can’t bear it” while organizers deliver more than 1,800 petition signatures calling on the first-term member of Congress to hold an in-person town hall. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
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