The Richmond Tea Party is looking for a refund from city officials:
In April, the Richmond Tea Party held a Tax Day Rally in Kanawha Plaza. They say before they could use the city venue they were charged nearly $10,000 and had to comply with a series of usage forms and procedures.
Colleen Owens, a spokesperson for the Tea Party, says it’s obvious the Occupy demonstrators are not being held to the same standard. “We followed the rules, we followed the law, we got all the permits, we paid all the fees, we had to jump through all the hoops that they asked us to.”
Owens notes that the Tea Party “didn’t complain about it,” but that now they’re “sitting back and watching these Occupiers in Richmond and they’re basically camped out at Kanawha plaza.”
“And they’re not having to pay for the park, they’re not getting permits, they’re not paying for police, they’re not paying for port-o-potties, they’re not paying for emergency personnel,” Owens says.
“Everything that we were required to do,” she adds.
Owens says the Tea Party hopes to get an invoice into the Mayor’s office this week and ask for a refund.
Speaking of double standards:
As I watch news reports and hear from people on the ground in the “occupy” movement, it’s sometimes hard to believe that this is happening right now [in] our country. Especially with recent developments such as in Oakland, California, where police attacked protesters with flash grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas. The video from that situation looked like something we were watching just months ago in Egypt as Mubarak’s thugs violently attacked protesters. It is an uncomfortable time.
And so, I offer this to you to lend some perspective. Many in my generation and younger have never really seen this kind of protesting in the U.S., but our country has a long history of American People standing up for themselves and doing this very thing. Enjoy this as one of the many examples.
Agree with the “Occupiers” or not, we should all be defending their right to protest. One day, this could be you or your kids protesting something you believe in.
In the comments, I ask pertinent questions as to where the lending of perspective might’ve been when the Tea Party was holding protest rallies across the country.
Would love to see a cogent answer.
