Protests Planned For 4th Of July Holiday

Local organizers of the “tea party” movement to protest federal government size and spending are planning two events in Bristol this holiday weekend – events that are among hundreds scheduled nationwide.

“There are over 1,300 registered tea parties going off on the Fourth of July, and this is a movement that is not going to stop,” said Brian Rieck, organizer of a July 4 event in downtown Bristol. “We need to put the government back in the hands of the people.”

On Saturday, participants plan to march and ride in the city’s Fourth of July parade before demonstrating in front of the courthouse in Bristol, Va. They will meet at the Food City on Euclid Avenue between 8 and 9 a.m. for the parade, and then rally outside the courthouse at noon.

On Monday, tea party protesters will hold a bring-your-own-picnic and rally starting 4 p.m. at Sugar Hollow Park, where the program will begin shortly before 6 p.m. Organizers anticipate more than 1,000 people will attend. The focus of the Monday rally is carbon dioxide legislation and the 2010 Congressional election.

“We still need independence,” Rieck said of the reason for the Independence Day event. “We don’t need to become dependent on the government for everything that we say, do and hear. We fought for freedom, and now we’re giving it away.”

Strother Smith, organizer of the Monday event, said the idea of “tea parties” – protests in the spirit of the 1773 event where American colonists dumped British tea into the Boston harbor to protest taxation – is continuing to grow across the nation.

“These are new people who have not been politically involved before,” Smith said.

“We have a runaway government. … This is supposed to be a nation of the rule of law, and the Congress and the President have just absolutely set the rule of law aside,” Smith said. “There are an awful lot of people that, if it’s required, they’re going to go a whole lot further than protesting if this keeps up.”

Both events are directing part of the message to longtime U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, whom organizers hope to see replaced in Congress next year, along with others in Congress who support President Barack Obama.

“It’s time to clean house,” Rieck said. “If the word incumbent is in front of their name, they are suspect, and as far as I’m concerned they have a target on their back for losing their seat.”

Boucher, though invited, said he does not plan to attend the rally. Though organizers said the event is nonpartisan, Boucher said it’s clearly being held by his opposing party.

“I don’t think it’s in their interest or mine for me to be addressing what essentially is a Republican rally,” Boucher said Thursday.

At least three people are considering a run against Boucher in next year’s Congressional election, and Smith said one of them might announce his candidacy Monday. U.S. Rep. Phil Roe and state Delegate Terry Kilgore also are scheduled to speak.

Rieck and Smith said major initiatives working their way through Washington, such as a cap-and-trade bill to limit carbon dioxide emissions and a national health care program, are blatantly unconstitutional.

Boucher said much of the information being disseminated by the group about cap-and-trade legislation is “just not true.” He said the bill will create jobs and spur technological advances. He also said the economic stimulus bills passed recently – another target of complaints by the “tea party” activists – was necessary to keep the nation from entering the next Great Depression and has been a benefit to the region.

But Rieck said the main message of the tea parties is that people need to wake up – whatever their political views.

“I think they should finally get involved in what their government is doing,” Rieck said. “Start reading, not just say, well, you know, ‘I’m only one vote.’ One vote matters.”

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701