Animated elderly woman behind police incident at Hageman town hall in Wheatland, report shows

Following a March town hall in Wheatland, an elderly woman approached Rep. Harriet Hageman and spoke in an “aggressive manner” with her hands close to the representative’s face, a Wheatland Police Department report released to WyoFile this week shows. 

One of Hageman’s staff members moved between the elderly woman and the lawmaker, and a Wheatland police officer took hold of the elderly woman’s wrists. The woman apologized and walked away, according to the report. No charges were filed and the officer does not appear to have taken down the woman’s name. 

There were no other incidents that required law enforcement either during or after the event, according to Wheatland Police Sgt. Dalton Minsaas’ report. 

Hageman cited the Wheatland incident as one of the safety threats that spurred her to move her town halls online for a time. Hageman this week restarted in-person town halls in Buffalo and Dayton, but required people to register for them ahead of time.

The Wheatland police report aligns with Hageman’s account of the incident, but provides more detail.  

“An attendee followed Hageman leaving the venue and initiated a physical confrontation with staff, into which local police were forced to intervene,” Hageman’s staff wrote in their March statement about moving town halls online. 

The March 20 Wheatland town hall followed a raucous event in Laramie the night before, where Hageman was booed and heckled by people upset by the actions of President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. Still, law enforcement at the Laramie event told WyoFile there were no incidents and officers did not remove anyone.

In Wheatland, security was significant and led by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. Four Wheatland PD officers joined deputies guarding the event, with different assignments, according to a second police report released to WyoFile, this one written by Sgt. Russell Swingle. 

Hageman also cited the strain placed on law enforcement resources as a reason for moving her events online. In Buffalo on Thursday night, she met a mixed reception that included both support and jeering, the Cowboy State Daily reported. 

There were no incidents that required an intervention from law enforcement, Buffalo Police Department Captain Garth Nicholas told WyoFile on Friday. 

WyoFile requested the Wheatland reports under the Wyoming Public Records Act on March 27. They were released Thursday, although it’s not clear when the reports were written. Traci Swingle, the department’s administrative assistant, told WyoFile she was unable to provide that information. 

Constituent anger

Republican lawmakers nationwide have faced anger and indignation from their constituents when they’ve returned from Washington, D.C. to their home states, as the Musk-led DOGE initiative continues to sharply reduce and restructure government programs. 

Hageman cast the people who heckled her in Laramie and elsewhere as organized protesters, and some conservatives falsely suggested they had come into the state from elsewhere to flood the events — or were even paid protesters.

The police reports show Hageman faced upset constituents in Wheatland too.

“During the town hall, I could hear ‘boos’ from the crowd,” wrote Swingle, who was posted in the lobby of Wheatland High School, where the town hall was held.

Minsaas was standing by the high school auditorium’s entrance as people were exiting. Hageman came up a set of stairs toward the doors where Minsaas was posted, and the officer watched “an elderly female” who was “moving in a quick manner to get close to Hageman.” 

One of Hageman’s staffers, who is not named in the report, stepped between the two women, Minsaas wrote. Hageman’s staff did not respond to a WyoFile request for additional details about the incident. 

“The elderly female was communicating to Hageman in what appeared to be an aggressive manner,” Minsaas wrote. “I also observed the elderly female’s hands were up and close to Hageman’s face.” 

The officer “gained control” of the constituent’s wrists, he wrote, and “explained to her that she could communicate with Hageman, but she needed to keep her hands to her side.” The woman apologized and walked away. 

Hageman’s staff and law enforcement walked with the congresswoman out of the building. 

“There is nothing further to report on this matter,” Minsaas concluded.