Rep. Swalwell holds town hall, talks possible National Guard deployment to Bay Area

(KRON) — East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-District 14) returned to the Bay Area on Tuesday night to host a town hall meeting, addressing concerns over tariffs, immigration, and redistricting.

During the town hall, Representative Swalwell listened to constituents’ concerns about the current political climate and the deployment of the National Guard to Washington D.C. Swalwell also called out California cities — Oakland and Los Angeles — for their crime rates.

Livermore resident Bruce Parrish voiced his opposition to the National Guard deployment, saying, “I don’t want to live in a military state. I don’t quite understand why it’s being done. I think I know why its being done, but I don’t think there is any need for it.”

“They should be concerned because he abused the right to deploy the military in Los Angeles, and we saw that those troops weren’t even being used,” said Representative Swalwell. “They were just laying around.”

Beverly Gonsalves, an 80-year-old Navy veteran and photographer, expressed her concerns about the unprecedented times and hopes for leaders like Swalwell to hold President Donald Trump accountable.

“I’m scared…it’s my country,” said Union City resident Beverly Gonsalves, expressing her fears about the political situation.

Swalwell, a former prosecutor in Alameda County, expressed confidence in the new District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, stating that many crimes were not being prosecuted under the previous district attorney, and that has changed.

“Many crimes were not being prosecuted under District Attorney Price and that has changed,” said Swalwell. “I think there is a sense of safety that we have that we are getting back in our community. I’ve talked to a lot of law enforcement in the area. I have family who work in law enforcement in this area and they have seen a change in the relationship with law enforcement and the District Attorney’s office. That’s all the more reason the president should stay out of local law enforcement.”

Swalwell emphasized the importance of reassuring his constituents about the work being done in Washington D.C., stating, “We will not be defined by where this president is taking us right now. There is real work we have to do to be stewards of democracy and I hope they take that away tonight as I lay out what we can do together.”

As Congress returns from recess on September 2, Swalwell and other Democrats are focused on the midterms and the future of the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Swalwell mentioned California Governor Gavin Newsom as a potential Democratic presidential nominee, encouraging participation in upcoming Labor Day rallies.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.