A very supportive crowd of 400 or more greeted Rep. Allen West at his first public town hall meeting with Palm Beach County constituents, but he did face some tough questions.When West opened the floor for questions, he said he wanted to hear first from people who didn't vote for him.
The first questioner brought up an incident in which West, then a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel serving in Iraq, fired a pistol near an Iraqi detainee to get him to divulge information about a suspected ambush. When the questioner mentioned "torture", the rest of her question was drowned out by boos and groans.
"Having been a commander in combat, if you were one of my soldiers, I would have done the exact same action to protect you," responded West.
West was also confronted by Nezar Hamze, executive director of the South Florida chapter of CAIR.
"You have consistently demonized and insulted my religion. ... You've insulted the prophet," Hamze said.
"I will always defend your right to practice a true religion under the First Amendment," West replied. But, he added, "I'm not going to stop speaking the truth," and he mentioned violent incidents from Islamic history.
"Your version of Islam is exactly what the anti-Islam people are teaching you," said Hamze, who said acts of violence "have nothing to do with Islam."
After the meeting, Hamze gave West some credit.
"It's good that he's opening the floor," Hamze said. "He's not afraid to take any questions."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has recently launched radio ads and automated phone calls aimed at West and 18 other House Republicans around the U.S. who have been targeted for defeat in 2012.
"I couldn't even have this job for 30 days and they're already running attack ads on me," West told the crowd. He added: "Never pick a fight with a guy that knows how to fight."