Yellow “Don’t tread on me” rattlesnake flags waved in the air and the crowd cheered as speakers preached the Conservative gospel at the Tea Party’s Tax Day Rally on Thursday.
About 300 people came to the rally at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. Attendees varied in age from a 90-year-old World War II pilot to toddlers dancing to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”
Thomas Hayes-Morrison, a professor at City College, was the master of ceremonies at the event and railed against the federal government and President Obama.
“With Obamacare, they’re going to tell you who can have children,” he said. “And how and when you’re going to die.”
He called the president a liberal, socialist, communist, Marxist and fascist, and he rallied against high taxes. When asked, he couldn’t name any new taxes created by the Obama administration, other than health care taxes on the upper class and some businesses.
The speakers also discussed local issues. Mayoral candidate Don Marsh stopped by on his way to the Supervisor of Elections Office to thank the Tea Partiers for supporting him in the city election.
Michael Katz, a Marsh supporter who owns a body shop, spoke against Gainesville Regional Utilities’ high rates, which he said help the city pay for services other than energy.
Katz works with Gainesville’s Elder Care Board and told a story about an elderly sick woman who couldn’t afford to pay her heating bill without help from a charity.
And while the Tea Partiers promoted the importance of the Constitution and the First Amendment, not everyone’s views were welcome at the event.
Two activists were booed for holding “9/11 truth” signs. As they walked around the plaza with their signs, Tea Partiers circled them with American flags and told them to leave.
Gainesville police intervened to make sure an argument between the protesters didn’t turn into anything physical or violent.
Elizabeth Wachman, a rally participant who volunteers with the Republican Party of Alachua County, said she’s been politically active for 48 years.
“I’ve always been the Tea Party,” she said. “It’s just now they’ve given it a name.”
