From what I saw throughout the event were peaceful, respectful, and boisterous individuals. I did witness some arguments, but no racial slurs or punches were thrown. Most ended in a handshake.
I think the Tea Party members knew that everyone would be looking for these sort of actions and were not wanting to get caught up the media storm that would surely follow.
I whole-heartedly agree with the Tea Party’s premise of a smaller, more fiscally conservative federal government; and many signs throughout the event displayed these sentiments.
The only negative throughout the event was during Sarah Palin’s speech. A line of individuals holding anti-war and pro-union signs were marching through the crowd yelling into a megaphone. I have no problem with them voicing their opinions; however, I could not hear a portion of Palin’s speech over their objections. Palin was by far the biggest draw for the crowd and I’m sure the majority wanted to hear her speech, but was interrupted.
The portion of Palin’s speech I did hear was nothing new. It did reiterate the principles of the Tea Party, however, and stirred the crowd to cheers and applause on numerous occasions.
Overall, the event highlighted what the Tea Party stands for and gave an opportunity for numerous viewpoints to be heard. It will be interesting to see how the national media portrays this event, if at all. I think it is always a positive sight when a group of citizens choose to voice their First Amendment rights and if anything else, that should be applauded.
Pictures are below. I tried to take pictures which would give a fair representation of the crowd.
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