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On 30 May 2017, blogs began reporting that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) hid from constituents by standing on the roof of his office in Vista, a city in northern San Diego County. The stories were prompted by a tweet posted by Mike Levin, a Democrat who is challenging Issa in 2018, which showed a picture of Issa on the roof holding his phone along with a caption that indicates he was too afraid to speak with constituents. PoliticsUSA.com reported: Issa tweeted that he spoke to protesters who had gathered at 10 a.m. local time outside his district office, though an organizer said it was strange to seen him on the rooftop. Issa tweeted he was simply taking pictures of the crowd after chatting with them: Mike Levin, an environmental attorney running against Issa in 2018, said he stands by his comment and believes that although Issa didn't technically hide, he did avoid rally attendees gathered outside his office by retreating from them. Levin told us: Protest organizer Ellen Montanari said Issa did speak to at least two protest attendees, including herself and one other person, from what she saw. But the congressman didn't spend the morning jovially chatting with them, as he characterized in his tweet. Issa spokesman Calvin Moore told us via e-mail: Montanari told us in a phone interview that things unfolded with a bit more hostility than Moore let on. Since late January 2017, protesters have been gathering outside Issa's Vista office every Tuesday. Normally he comes out and she offers him a microphone, which he uses for impromptu question-and-answer sessions. On 30 May, however, Montanari told us that Issa was less talkative and more accusatory: Montanari said he stopped to chat with at least one other participant before going back into his office, appearing on the rooftop, then coming back out with a piece of cake which he gave to a supporter of President Donald Trump, who also attends as a counter-protester: Montanari characterized Issa's standing on the rooftop and taking pictures of the crowd as surreal: The incident took place after protesters were given tighter restrictions by the city for their weekly rallies, including being moved across the street from the office instead of standing on the sidewalk directly out front, and limitations being placed on amplified sound. Montanari characterized the 30 May 2017 rally as having really escalated. When we asked Moore why Issa had chosen this particular day to take pictures of protesters from the roof, Moore responded: According to San Diego Union Tribune reporter Joshua Stewart, Issa called him the day of the roof controversy, labeled him an operative for his opponents, and then hung up on him. While Issa didn't technically hide on the roof (he was in plain view), it seems that he did retreat from protesters who did not want to speak with him.
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