Emily Feiner Was Forcibly Carried out of a Rep. Mike Lawler Town Hall by Police — Here's Why

Angry voters across the United States have been showing up to Republican town halls to vent their frustrations about President Donald Trump's second term. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hosted a town hall meeting in Acworth, Ga., on April 16, 2025, which ended in police using stun guns on two attendees, per The Guardian. One week later, Senator Chuck Grassley faced questions about immigration from constituents in Minnesota who turned on each other in an infuriating meeting.

Typically, when Congress is in recess, representatives use that time to return to their respective districts or states in order to meet with constituents. According to NBC News, lawmakers are avoiding this during the April 2025 recess. That's not true for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose Hudson Valley town hall involved social worker Emily Feiner being carried out against her will.

On May 4, 2025, just before 10 p.m., Feiner reshared a video on Bluesky with a tongue-in-cheek comment that said, "Well, I had an interesting Sunday night, how 'bout you?" Text over the footage reads, "NYC17 Constituent and local social worker Emily Feiner was singled out and forcibly removed during Rep. Mike Lawler's town hall."

In the video, Feiner is sitting down while members of a private security team stand in the aisle near her seat. As Rep. Lawler is talking on stage, Feiner is shaking her head no and saying she's not leaving. "You are taking on an old Jewish woman, and I'm not leaving," she says. One of the security guards repeatedly tells the person recording to stop. They refuse.

The video cuts to crowd chanting, "Let her stay," as five New York State police officers surround Feiner. Her body goes limp as the state troopers pick up Feiner and carry her out of the town hall meeting. The social worker flashes double peace signs while the crowd boos. One woman is heard yelling, "This is anti-democratic."

Beneath the original post of the town hall video to Bluesky, Feiner chimed in and repeated the question she asked Rep. Lawler. "I was certainly no threat," she replied. "I asked my Congressperson what his red line was to finally, vocally oppose the lawless administration and he didn’t answer the question, so I called out for him to answer it and he had me removed."

Feiner shared a different video in which a man wearing a red MAGA hat is watching the New York State troopers speak with Feiner, moments before she is carried out. Most of the crowd is screaming, "Let her stay" but the MAGA voter is yelling, "Put them in jail. Kill them! Kill them!" The replies to this video were a mixture of shock and revulsion, with a few people pointing out Feiner might be able to take legal action against the MAGA voter for attempting to incite violence.