Will Rep. Russell Fry be at a Myrtle Beach town hall on Monday? Here’s what we know
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A social media post announcing a “town hall” scheduled for Monday in Myrtle Beach.
The invite indicated that Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) was going to be in attendance. A member of his team later confirmed that he will not be. Fry has held two in-person “Freedom Hour” events in Georgetown County and Dillon County in February, which are in-person town hall style events, according to his team.
Fry’s team sent a statement via text message on Friday afternoon adding some additional context.
“The Office of Congressman Fry never received a scheduling request from the organizers of this event. In fact, we were not even aware of the name of the organization hosting this event until we read their name in the Sun News this morning due to the lack of identifying information on this random flyer,” the statement said. “Please note that this flyer has inaccurate information - it was never hand delivered to Congressman Fry, and we do not have an office location in Socastee.”
The town hall is not an officially sanctioned event by Fry, or his team. The event instead is hosted by Indigo Indivisible.
The group said in their Facebook post that it would be a nonpartisan town hall. The group’s national website, Indivisible, states that they are “contacting voters to defeat Donald Trump,” which is partisan.
Fry’s team sent the following statement via email on Thursday when asked about Monday’s town hall:
“Congressman Fry will not be attending the sham ‘Town Hall’ on Monday, April 14 ‘aimed at resisting Trump’s policies’ and ‘was all-hands-on-deck to turn out Democrats and make Donald Trump a one-term President.’ Congressman Fry is looking forward to hosting an official telephone town hall organized by our office next week to engage in meaningful conversation with thousands of our constituents in the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.”
The statement contained two hyperlinks, one was to a The Post and Courier Myrtle Beach article about the protests on April 5 in Horry County and the other was to the national group, Indivisible, impact page on their website.
The post said an invitation to a town hall in The Market Common on Monday was sent by certified mail and delivered by hand to Fry, as well as read to his offices in Socastee, S.C., and Washington D.C.
“We’ve not yet heard from him nor his team,” Kelly Harrison from Indigo Indivisible said on Thursday morning. “Our plan is to conduct an Empty-Chair Town Hall if he does not attend, and we’ll provide him with the questions and comments from his constituents afterwards.”
An empty chair town hall is when a public meeting is scheduled by groups who invite an elected official to attend and they are unable to, thereby leaving an empty chair on the stage or at the event. And they’ve been popping up all over the U.S. in recent weeks.
Fry can be reached at his Washington D.C. office at (202) 225-9895, at his Grand Strand district office at (843) 353-5377 and at his Pee Dee district office at (843) 799-6880.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to add more information and include Fry’s previous Freedom Hour events at 10:17 a.m. on 4/11/2025. This story was updated at 12:06 p.m. on 4/11/2025 to correct Freedom Fry to Freedom Hour. The story was updated at 12:48 p.m. to include Fry’s complete statement and define “Freedom Hours” as town halls. The story was updated at 1:20 p.m. to add a statement from Fry’s team.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
