BELTON, Mo. — Tight security lined Memorial Station near downtown Belton on Monday night.
A public town hall, with limited seating for Republican Rep. Mark Alford (Missouri-4th District), hosted by KCUR drew a crowd of protesters.
"Thank you for exercising your First Amendment right," Rep. Alford said addressing the crowd of approximately 100 people upon his arrival at the event. "I look forward to meaningful conversations here."
Civil discourse was Alford's message out the gate.
Protesters used profanity in an attempt to get their message to the Congressman.
One woman inside the event interrupted, screaming and even began moving toward Alford. Members of KCUR staff helped escort the woman outside.
"I campaigned to be the most accessible Congressman that the U.S. House has ever had. I think we proved that," Alford told members of the media. "We proved that a couple months ago, at the coffee house in Belton."
KSHB 41 previously attended an informal public townhall in Belton in February.
Alford's event drew hundreds in the downtown area, including an Internal Revenue Service employee and union Vice President, Daniel Scharpenburg. He represents approximately 6,000 federal employees, but doesn't reside in Alford's district.
"I got in front of him and I asked him, 'How many of the 34,000 government workers in Kansas City do you think should be fired, Mark?' And he said to me, 'God has a plan for fired federal workers,'" stated Scharpenburg. "That was really insulting and demeaning to me. It's dismissive, it's to say I don't care that you're getting fired. God has a plan for you. Don't worry about it."
Many of the protesters in attendance were subject standing behind police tape and were challenging federal cuts to numerous programs by the Trump Administration.
Many criticized the Rep. Alford's support of the President and Republican colleagues.
"We are making a course correction in America. But like it or not. This is what 77-million of your fellow citizens voted for," Alford a light crowd in the townhall.
Approached with shouting and consistent push back from crowd members to questions presented by Host Steve Kraske, the Congressman addressed hot button political issues.
Immigration, Israel, Tariffs, Federal program cuts, and Agriculture, to name a few.
Rep. Alford hammered home his message on civil discourse and offering support for Rep. Cleaver III.
RELATED | Congressman Cleaver says his name was on list from suspected Minnesota killer
KSHB 41 first reported on Monday, Congressman Cleaver III was named on a "hit list" that is supposedly written by the suspect in the murder of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband over the weekend.
"My wife is pretty upset that I'm still doing this, but we have good security here tonight," Rep. Alford said. "We have to cool our rhetoric, really, on both sides, and I'm making a renewed effort to do that, whether it's in social media or the way that we speak with each other on the House floor, it should be with decorum and respect, and I'm recommitting my efforts in doing that."
The Cass County Sheriff's Office, Belton Police Department, and Belton Fire Department were on hand for crowd control.
Rep. Alford told KSHB 41, many of the changes in the new Administration and Congress is to cut back on waste, fraud, and abuse.
"I don't think the people who are shouting and yelling realize the danger that our country is in right now economically, how close we are to going over the edge," he explained. "We are gaining a trillion dollars in interest every year on that debt, and until we turn things around, we start controlling our spending. We're not going to climb out of that hole. We're going to hit a reef and we're going to sink as a country."
Monday night's event in Belton was the Congressman's 100th public townhall. The public town hall series continues in Lincoln, Missouri at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 525 N 65 Hwy.
"What I really want from this is for him to see us and to recognize we're here and to realize that he's supposed to be a co equal branch of government," added Scharpenburg. "He's not supposed to just do whatever Donald Trump wants all the time. Congress is supposed to check the President's power, and not just give it a rubber stamp. And that seems like all MAGA Mark Alford is interested in doing."
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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
