CARSON CITY, Nevada — The woman, in a quiet voice, stood before the crowd of hundreds at a town hall-style event here with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and announced that her son serves in the Air Force. The crowd applauded.

But then the woman said, “Time and time again, [Donald] Trump has disrespected our nation’s armed forces and veterans. And his disrespect for Mr. Khan … ”

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The reaction of the crowd was immediate and fierce, drowning our her words.

The crowd began to boo as she tried to get through her question. The woman, who was subsequently identified in various media reports as Catherine Byrne of Carson City, continued to speak through the jeers.

“Why are you here?” one woman shouted as the boos rained down.

But, over the boos and taunts, Byrne continued to speak.

“You’ve got a son in the military, how do you tolerate this disrespect?” she asked Pence.

Finally, after allowing the boos to continue for about 10 seconds, Pence moved to quiet the crowd.

“That’s OK,” he said. Trump's running mate then repeated a line he deployed when confronted by protesters in Ohio last week: “That's what freedom looks like, and that's what freedom sounds like.”

Pence responded by praising the fallen Capt. Humayun Khan and his family. Khan's parents, Khizr and Ghazala, have been in the news since speaking last week at the Democratic National Convention and finding themselves criticized by Trump.

“Capt. Khan is an American hero and we honor him and honor his family,” he said. “The story of Capt. Khan is an incredibly inspiring story.”

But Pence went on to defend Trump.

“I have never been around someone more devoted to the armed forces of this country,” Pence said of Trump. There is “no one more devoted to the veterans in this country.”

He then moved on to saying he and Trump would work to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Denise Martinez, 57, said she had been among those booing Byrne. She admired how Pence handled the situation.

“I thought he handled it really, really well,” she said. “Looking back, I think I would’ve taken the high road.”

“He handled it the right way, the way I wish Trump would have,” she added.

Other audience members were less forgiving.

Barbara Weisenthal, 56, said she was among those booing and that Khizr Khan did not have the “right” to say what he did about Trump at the convention. His speech “was almost like slander,” she said.

Of Byrne who asked the question, Weisenthal said it was “probably not the best place to do that.”

Jack Christenson, himself a veteran, said Byrne may have had the right to ask her question, but not “to violate everyone else’s rights,” which he said she did by speaking out at the event.

“She was claiming that Trump was somehow insulting the veterans,” said Roen Horn, 29. He called that idea “a bunch of crap.”

“She was politicizing the veterans,” she said. “She had an agenda.”