SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Chip Roy's town hall Tuesday night at Compassion Church on the north side of San Antonio was in two acts, though it was not clear if Roy, the protagonist in this civic drama who exited the stage at the abrupt close of an acrimonious first act, would be returning for Act 2.

“Those of you who came out tonight hoping to have a dialogue and conversation with me about what’s going on in Washington can see what happens when the radical left takes over,” Roy said about a half-hour after the evening devolved into an extended verbal melee between the freshman Republican and local Democrats, with his many supporters in the house offering their own Greek chorus of reproach for the disruptors.

That act ended with a pugilistic peroration from Roy, promising to "fight" for the constituents of the 21st Congressional District and for small government and against the extremism of the radical left, all barely audible above the din, and punctuated by Roy exiting stage right.

It appeared the show was over, but no sooner had half the crowd, both pro- and anti-Roy, dispersed, than Roy returned to the stage after what amounted to the briefest of intermissions to let everyone cool off for the second act, explaining that now that they "had lowered the temperature a little bit, let's just focus on what we came here to talk about."

And, for the next 50 minutes he conducted a relatively civil town hall, in which Roy was happy, for example, to explain in great detail why he believes efforts to require gun registration or legislate red flag laws could never meet constitutional muster.

It was the first of what will be four town halls hosted by Roy, who lives in Hays County just outside Austin, while he is home for the late summer congressional recess. Maybe it is because he is new at it, or perhaps because he is a cerebral and ideological sort who enjoys the give and take of political debate, but Roy has a fervor for town halls that his other Central Texas Republican colleagues lack.

But his combative streak might also have lit the match at the Compassion Church gathering, which opened with Roy explaining he was just back from a "phenomenal trip" to Israel with 80 of colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, and wanted to share some of its lessons.

"One of the things that we are missing in our country is the sense of community, sense of purpose, collective purpose," he found in Israel, Roy said. "Now well, by definition for Israel, it has to be because they have to find a way to come together and protect themselves, because they are constantly under assault. But that sense of purpose, collective sense of purpose, that binds them together, is something."

"I think this lack of binding together as a community is part of our cultural rot," Roy said.

But, Roy continued, “I took great offense at how my two colleagues, congresswoman (Ilhan) Omar and congresswoman (Rashida) Tlaib approached their visit to Israel."

That sparked some murmurings of disquiet in the audience, which numbered about 100 people, probably a little more than half partial to Roy, who most likely will be facing a stiff challenge in 2020 from Wendy Davis, the former state senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2014.

While he and four score members of Congress were visiting Israel, the two freshmen Democrats — Omar of Minnesota and Tlaib of Michigan — were making headlines when Israel, at the tweeted behest of President Donald Trump, wouldn't let the two lawmakers, who support the anti-Israel, boycott, divestment and sanctions protest movement, admittance to Israel.

"It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit," Trump tweeted. "They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!"

Scolded from the back of the church hall to stick to issues more directly germane to his district, Roy responded, "I'm going to talk about what I think is important to be talking about, which is what we're facing among the Democratic leadership and what we're facing among those Democrats in Washington led by the four speakers of the apocalypse, in terms of Tlaib and Omar and (U.S. Rep. Alexandria) Ocasio-Cortez" — a Democratic freshman from New York — "and those that are actually running the show with the Democratic Party."

While that sounded to some like a suggestion that Roy was referring to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as the fourth "speaker of the apocalypse," in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, he identified the fourth as U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who, along with the other three progressive congresswomen, have come to be known as "The Squad," but who, unlike the others, Roy never mentioned by name at the town hall.

"And what I'm talking about is of paramount importance to the people of this country and Texas 21," Roy said Tuesday night., "And you can listen. I'm going to speak very clearly now. You're either going to be respectful, or you're going to be asked to leave."

"We cannot balance the budget. We cannot find a way to get health care prices down. We certainly cannot find a way to secure the border in an environment in which Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are preventing us from doing what we need to be able to do," Roy said.

"The American people are frustrated because our borders are wide open," he said. "Anybody that denies our borders are wide open should stick their head in the sand where it exactly sits, because our borders are wide open: 900,000 people have come across the border, apprehended since October. ... Those are the facts, the absolute true facts, the 100% correct facts."

For the next 20 minutes, the meeting teetered on the edge of bedlam, without ever arriving there, a hodgepodge of catcalls and insults lobbed the congressman's way, as he tried to restore order and his supporters invited his critics to shut up, grow up or get out.

'Not going to let it go'

When Roy returned to Omar and Tlaib, Eva Perez, seated about two-thirds of the way back but with a clarion voice, called out for Roy to "let it go, already."

"I'm not going to let it go," Roy said.

"You're scared of brown women. Let it go," said Perez, 50, who works at a San Antonio residential treatment facility.

"Now that is an interesting charge," Roy said.

Roy brought up a July demonstration at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Aurora, Colo., in which protesters took down the American flag.

"Here you go again, inciting the base with fearmongering," Trish Florence, lead organizer with SATX Indivisible, an anti-Trump group, called out from the back of the room.

"Who cares," Perez said.

"Who cares that an American flag was turned upside down and a Mexican flag was raised?" Roy said. "I care."

"What you're seeing here today is the modern face of the Democratic Party," Roy said. "This is why we can't get anything done in Washington. At the end of the day, you're not even willing to listen."

'You didn't let him talk'

"What are you doing to keep people from being shot in a Walmart?" Perez asked.

Noting his background as a prosecutor, Roy described the challenge of identifying lone wolves.

"They're not lone wolves, they're white supremacists," Perez said.

"They're organized and they're visible," Perez said. "They stand next to you at events.

"Excuse me?" Roy said.

As Roy left the stage, Perez told the American-Statesman, "He doesn't really want to have a town hall." She said his description of the Democratic congresswomen as "speakers of the apocalypse" was deliberately, offensively provocative.

"You didn't let him talk," a woman admonished Perez on her way out.

"Darn," Perez replied.

"I wished they had actually escorted those people out," said Sue Beasey, 64, a retired San Antonio nurse and local GOP activist, on her way out. "I wanted to actually listen to what he had to say. They can't even behave civilly."

A few uniformed police officers observed from the back of the church, but were never asked to do anything.

Garry Smith, a retired 30-year San Antonio police officer and member of church, said the meeting never got truly out of hand, with no physical violence or menacing threats. He said he had seen worse at city council and school board meetings.

"Some people go to the movies for entertainment," said Malinda Pennell, a former military police officer who serves on Roy's veterans' advisory committee. "I go to town halls."

Roy plans town halls in Kerrville on Wednesday , Leakey on Aug. 30 and Blanco on Sept. 5.

CORRECTION: The story was corrected to indicate that Roy was referring to U.S. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as the fourth of what he called the "four speakers of the apocalypse."