U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks has no plans to hold public town hall meetings, he said, because of concerns about violence that has occurred at other events around the country.

"I want things to settle down a little bit before I'm willing to subject citizens to bodily harm or damage to their personal property," Brooks told AL.com this week.

Brooks, R-Huntsville, cited four instances in which a person was injured or property was damaged during protests or town hall meetings so far in 2017:

A 71-year-old staffer for U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., was

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Tires on four vehicles were slashed outside a town hall meeting

Police reported property damage and injuries at a

"And that's on top of the normal risks you have such as (former) Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot with a number of citizens at the public event being killed," Brooks said. "And that's before you get to the Muslim terrorism risk."

Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with constituents at an outdoor venue in Tucson, Ariz. Six people were killed in the shooting and 12 others were wounded.

Giffords responded Thursday to harshly criticize U.S. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who - like Brooks - cited the Giffords shooting as a reason not to hold a town hall.

"To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage," Giffords said in a statement posted on her website. "Face your constituents. Hold town halls."

To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls. — Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) February 23, 2017

Tom Ryan would agree. A Huntsville lawyer, Ryan is also chair of the Madison County Democratic executive committee.

He sent a letter to Brooks' Huntsville office inviting him to take part in a town hall on April 8 at the Huntsville/Madison County Library. Brooks said he "respectfully declined" the invitation.

"They're trying to make themselves relevant again," Brooks said of the Democrats.

Ryan said he would hope that Brooks would be responsive to the concerns of his constituents.

"His letter saying he's not going to come said (the meeting) was set up as a partisan thing only to speak to the Madison County Democratic Party," Ryan said. "That's not the case at all. This is a public forum open to everybody. His supporters can come if they want to."

Ryan said his invitation came only after being told Brooks had no plans to hold any town halls "for many, many months."

Ryan then pointed to the Madison County state legislative delegation forum held earlier this week in which 10 lawmakers listened to constituents voice concerns at the two-hour meeting.

"He's just bringing up the fear card so he doesn't have to face his constituents," Ryan said. "Look, if 10 members of the state legislative delegation can go over to the Huntsville city council chambers where 200 people showed up and respectfully asked questions for two hours, there was not a cop in there. Not one police officer.

"If 10 state legislators are not in fear of their lives, then why is Mo Brooks in fear of his life?"

There was security at the forum but uniform officers primarily remained in the building lobby outside the council chambers.

"He's the chairman of the Madison County Democratic Party," Brooks said of the invite. "I've never heard of a party having the audacity before to ask another party's candidate that you want to beat to subject themselves to a cross-examination to help the party beat you.

"I must admit, he was bold. I respectfully declined."

Brooks said he meets with constituents at his offices throughout the 5th Congressional District - including a meeting earlier this week with a group identifying themselves as part of the Indivisibles movement. He also met with a group of students at Huntsville High School where Brooks said, "They can ask any question they want."

Brooks also said occasionally holds telephone town hall meetings, including one last week in which about 5,000 people took part. Interested constituents in taking part in a future telephone hall can contact his office for information, he said.

"I have a lot of meetings with the public," Brooks said. "It depends on the circumstances. Quite frankly, I am hesitant to subject participants to the kind of violence we have seen elsewhere in America."

Aside from violence and injuries cited by Brooks, he said disruptions that have become more common at town halls across the country also undermine the process.

"As long as it's professional and courteous, I'm all for it," he said. "I'm more than happy to share my reasoning for why I vote the way I vote. They can agree or disagree. I really don't like the disrupter element that is really prevalent in a lot of these town halls right now where they don't care about public policy discourse. They just want to shout people down and infringe on other people's freedom of speech rights.

"I certainly don't want our community to be one of those places where violence results in personal injury or damaged property as has happened elsewhere around the country."