Tea Party crashes down on S.F.
April 16, 2009
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| Tax revolt: Nina Pellegrini, second from left, and grandson Mario, second from right, march Wednesday. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — As some people were scrambling to file their taxes, others took to the streets of The City to protest government spending.
Hundreds, including some dressed in Colonial-era garments, assembled outside City Hall and the Federal Building on Wednesday as part of a nationwide movement inspired by the Boston Tea Party, an uprising by early Colonialists against British taxes in 1773.
The “Tax Day Tea Parties” on Wednesday were in protest of President Barack Obama’s economic policies and the federal stimulus package, according to the protesters.
The protests, planned online by conservative groups, were inspired by CNBC’s Rick Santelli, who called for a “Chicago Tea Party” during a segment in February to protest the Obama administration’s policies, according to the organizers’ Web site. About 30,000 people in more than 40 cities took part in the first round of demonstrations Feb. 27, organizers said.
Antioch resident Dennis Clay arrived at 11 a.m. Wednesday for what he called a “successful protest.”
“I think everyone should be very pleased with the turnout,” Clay said of the hundreds who attended the event. “It was an interesting mix of people, but I think we’re all in unity against the stimulus and the bailouts. It’s putting an absolutely unfair burden on future generations.”
Speakers from a variety of different backgrounds orated outside City Hall and the federal buildings in two separate assemblies, which lasted till 1 p.m.
Ralph Crowder, a Berkeley native who works in San Francisco, arrived at the City Hall protest carrying a large billboard that said, “Don’t tax me, bro.”
Describing himself as a libertarian, Crowder said excessive spending practices and overreaching government policies have united people in opposition to President Barack Obama’s administration.
“There are people here who are on the other side of the fence from me on certain issues,” Crowder said. “But we can come together in our belief that the government is acting unconstitutionally with their policies.”
The events across the nation matched the tone of the protest in The City.
“I don’t think this is about party, this is not about politics,” said Gail Kalbfleisch, who attended an event in Washington, D.C. “We want our country that we grew up with, we want a country that can go forward. If we wanted to live in Europe, we would go to Europe.”
In Boston, where the original Tea Party took place in December 1773, 1,000 to 1,200 people showed up for Wednesday’s rally, co-organizer Christen Varley said.
“I heard Rick Santelli’s rant and I thought we should have a Tea Party in Boston,” said Varley, 38, of Holliston, Mass. “I am concerned about what this country is going to look like in five or 10 years.”
In San Francisco, a city with a rich history of mass demonstrations, the protests did not cause any major disruptions or result in any sort of violence.
Washington Examiner Staff Writer William C. Flook and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
