SPARTA - Tom Kean Jr. likes interacting only with friends, but that doesn't always work out.

The reality of CD-7 politics and the coming election crashed the congressman's Monday afternoon visit to this Sussex County town to award a federal grant regarding water quality.

While this is standard fare for members of Congress, Kean's office never publicizes such events in advance.

But in this case, members of the Sussex Visibility Brigade, a left-leaning community activist group, found out about Kean's visit and decided to show up.

A video on the group's Facebook page briefly shows the congressman presiding over a small ceremony along with an array of local Republican officials.

But as Kean quickly leaves and walks away, he ignores repeated questions from members of the group.

One was about the proposed ICE detention center in Roxbury. Another was about AI and data centers.

"You abandoned Roxbury," one woman shouted.

Kean has been criticized by the all-Republican council in Roxbury for not being a strong enough "advocate" regarding the township's opposition to the ICE center.

At a recent debate with Democrat Rebecca Bennett, he said he opposed the center - his first significant public comment on the issue.

Another question came from a woman who said her niece is in the military and who apparently wanted to ask Kean about the war in Iran. At the debate, the congressman gave a "thumbs-up" to the war.

One more comment was about Kean's unwillingness to hold a town hall, which is a longstanding complaint among his critics.

As questions were shouted at him, the congressman walked briskly to his car and did not turn around. That, according to the video.

An emailed question to Kean's office Tuesday morning for his take on the Sparta visit has not been answered.

Here is part of the Brigade's Facebook post summing up Kean's visit.

"If Congressman Tom Kean Jr. actually cared about his constituents, he would have come prepared to be asked the hard questions and defend his actions or lack thereof. But instead, he smiles for a picture, hands the check off, and vanishes once again. Congressional District 7 has not had a voice in Congress under Tom Kean Jr. and they certainly haven't had an advocate."

Editor's Note: The picture above is from the trail of Kean's 2006 campaign.