Army veteran has no regrets about yelling at Rep. Chuck Edwards, getting thrown out of town hall

The Arden army veteran who was escorted out of Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards’ town hall meeting Thursday night by a phalanx of law enforcement officers says he has no regrets about the expletive-laden tirade he delivered in front of a packed house at A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium.

“I think it was necessary,” Jay Carey told Asheville Watchdog on Friday afternoon. “I think it was the only way to really get his attention, and it was the energy that I want to see from everyone — to stand up and to speak back to the representatives that aren’t serving us, as is their duty.”

Carey, a 54-year-old registered Democrat, said that over his 20-plus-year military career he served in the tank corps in Desert Storm in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan and Bosnia. Carey provided discharge papers showing his service in those countries, as well as multiple commendations, including a Bronze Star. 

Carey, who ran for Congress in 2022 in the Democratic primary, said he’s particularly concerned about cuts the Trump administration has made to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and future cuts that could impact care for other veterans. 

Carey, caught on video that went around the world after the event, shouted at Edwards, “Do your job!” and “You don’t get to do this!” He also repeatedly cursed Edwards, who at one point seemed to motion officers to remove Carey.

Carey said he was not charged with any offenses but was escorted out of the building. Emotions ran high among the crowd throughout the 90-minute town hall, with numerous attendees yelling at Edwards, booing, and talking over him while he tried to answer questions.

Edwards had run through a long description of post-Helene efforts he and Trump’s administration have made to bring relief to the mountains, and the crowd became restless, wanting Edwards to skip ahead to answering questions.  

Carey said he and his wife lost their home to flooding in the storm, and their Hendersonville bounce house business also was destroyed. He feels Edwards had no real personal losses during the storm and wants to make cuts to services that will hurt working class people.

“He is hurting the people,” Carey said. “He’s hurting the very people that voted for him, let alone the rest of us — he does not care. And you don’t get to stand up there and let it happen if you are an elected official, regardless of where you’re from.”

Carey says he wants to see every Democratic representative stand up to Trump and the Republicans at “every level.” He feels Democratic leaders are giving their power away.

“We empower them, and they don’t get to just give it away,” Carey said.

Carey said he’s also concerned about potential cuts to Medicare and HUD. 

He’s amazed that the video clip went viral, but he hopes it serves as a call to action. And he does not regret his coarse speech.

“I do feel that the days of being cordial and respectful are over, because we’re not being respected,” Carey said. “He’s disrespecting us by doing what he’s doing to our community as a whole.”

For his part, Edwards remained calm throughout the 90-minute session, at times admonishing the crowd to not talk over him.

“Hey, this has been fun,” he said at the event’s conclusion. “I really appreciate the energy that you brought, the contradiction of opinions from time to time, the passion that I hear, the patriotism that I sense in this room.”