Photos by: FReeper MarineBrat
Posted on 07/04/2009 6:35:48 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
More than 15,000 people from Bakersfield to Modesto gathered at the International Agri-Center Saturday for the Freedom Rally Tea Party Saturday.
The event had several speakers, talking about their viewpoints of the country's government.
“We believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility and the free market and think that’s something Americans should get behind,” said Jared Gordon, Central Valley Tea Party spokesperson.
(Excerpt) Read more at visaliatimesdelta.com ...
ping
15k ppl no media coverage,
200 war protesters, 300 reporters covering it
Awesome!
ping
WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!
AWESOME!!! On behalf of the Mod Squad, THANK YOU & CONGRATS to y’all for putting this together!
We must have 1 million in DC on 9/12. Period.
Wow 15,000
Wow 15,000
With 15,000 people there- who needs the media!
The media were there...at least Channels 21 & 30 from the Fresno area. Still pretty meager, but the media were present.
I think it was probably closer to 20,000, maybe more. I heard the main building seats 20,000 and it was standing room only at the height of the event. And there were thousands more strolling through the vendor exhibits and attractions throughout the day. And people were coming and going all day long.
IMO, 15K showed up there for more than one main reason...but I’ve got to think that the state of the CA economy has pushed a lot of people “over the edge”.
As the pain & outrage continues to spread, the gatherings nationwide will grow larger & more boisterous. Maybe by September, enough people will be P.O.’ed to actually show up in DC & demand changes.
I am so happy to hear there were so many people.
BTW, the guy who was selling tacos had some AWESOME salsa.....gawd, that stuff was GOOD.
I am so happy to see this and I am so full of hope for our future with good people like these. Good always triumps evil.
The media must’ve been there. When I arrived, I attempted to get a parking space in a large empty area up close, but the parking guy said that area was reserved for the media and shooed us away. I imagine it filled up with satellite trucks later.
Wish I’d gotten me some of those tacos.
I saw channel 47 cameras also. That’s the local CBS affiliate. The venue was perfect. I predict these will become an annual event on July 4th and eventually the fire department will come out and fire off fireworks. Then it will become politically correct and we’ll have to start all over.
This event was really good and I am sure the next one will be even better.
Did you come by the FreeRepublic table to say hi?
If so, I’m sorry that I missed you ... if not, why not? LOL
15,000 is awesome. YEA!!!
Had 400 here in San Diego. Outdoors, in the sun, had a blast!
Congrats to all. Looks like it was a HUGE succes!!
15,000! Awesome!
Inside the Main building looking West.
I figured I'd include this Black lady with her sign, if only to make it harder for certain Celebrities (that I shall not name) to claim we are all racists.
Lots of families were there, they even had places for the future terrorists to play.
A fellow was traveling the crowd with his pet pig. A little bit of photoshop trickery done on my part to highlight our congressional friend.
This fellow attracted quite a crowd with his spot on sign. Notice all the cars in the background. Quite a walk for some!
A video report just posted by ABC News Channel 30:
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6898346
Here’s the Fresno Bee’s take on the historical patriotic event:
“The events are meant to harken back to the Boston Tea Party, and organizers consistently say they are nonpartisan affairs. Yet it took only moments to recognize that many in the crowd at the Ag Center were no fans of President Barack Obama and policies generally associated with Democrats.”
NSS!
http://www.fresnobee.com/updates/story/1514926.html
Ohhhh, how cute...the hat. Hi Amy, Hi Mama_Bear. Love the booth and wish I could have been there. Great crowd!
Can’t get anything past the sharp eyed news reporters at the Fresno Democrat, er, Bee. Wonder why they’re going belly up?
Good to hear. I hope you have some new Freepers, too.
There’s nothing partisan about being patriotic, you Fresno Bee twit! Obama is an admitted anti-American, anti-Liberty, anti-capitalism Marxist! Look it up!
Should be. Hundreds of people filed by our table and many of them took flyers or cards.
Seeing as how most of the people are mad at the feds and the RATS are running the show that's a necessary outcome. They might have added quite a few were mad at Arnold too, but I suppose that would alter the template too much.
Is anyone keeping a running total of the attendance at all of the 4th of July Tea Parties? Someone did for the April 15th ones and the total attendance was pretty impressive.
My estimate is that only about 400 attended the Tea Party in Austin, Texas. That would be only about 10% of the attendance of the April 15 Austin Tea Party. I wonder what the national total is. Glad to hear aboiut the Tulare event.
way to go!!!!!!
Outstanding job!
For a buck, you can’t beat that with a stick.
NSS! ROFL!!!
A tall "Uncle Sam"
Abe Lincoln
4 legged FRiend
Even "Elvis" was in the building!
Indoor crowd overview (even more outside at the booths, etc.!!)
More news links for the event:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285785/posts
http://www.fresnobee.com/406/story/1514926.html
What is that, like, 40 or 50 people there?
:)
:)
:)
:-)
My personal guess: 17,231 or so.
One more news link:
A little high. I heard Aunt Edna wasn't feeling well so Uncle Joe stayed home with her so you may want to adjust that downward a tad. :)
BTW!!!!!!!! Remember in San Diego, during the FIRST tea party...there were reports of people who obviously didn't belong there, lurking, taking pictures, etc....did you happen to see any of those shenanigans taking place today?
/nosey
Tulare is DEEP in the heart of "Conservative California", so that made for no "lurkers"/Acorn plants that I could detect (long drive from more liberal urban areas). There was one scruffy young guy with a sign referring to a Rolling Stone article/Web link, but I only saw him once and I don't remember the link/story.
The Fresno Tax Day Tea Party last April 15th at Fresno State Univ. was much more likely to have "infiltrators" (I had my "ACORN Member--->" sign ready), but even there I only saw some curious college students that were not hostile or disruptive.
It was awesome meeting you today, JimRob. I wish I’d asked you to take a picture with me, to increase my bragging rights. Were there really 15,000 people there today? They came out in the heat to the middle of nowhere to sit on lawn chairs in a cow barn to say to the government “Don’t Tread On Me”. Amazing. Just amazing. It’s very 1776. The fact that the press won’t cover it is the point of it, really. Out there in the barn and here on FR we’re going around the press and talking directly to each other. Washington has this snake by the tail and they are about to get bit. Glad to be part of it.
Another thing worth mentioning. There was a HUGE declaration of independence for people to sign. As you might imagine the line got pretty long for that.
Hi, Nan.
The Tea Party was a huge success. Wish you could have been here too.
It was a hot day but thousands of angry citizens came out to let congress know that we have had ENOUGH. We are counting on Big Changes in 2010. Toss them all out!
Sorry that we missed you and Mrs Drago.
Several FReepers came by the booth to intoduce themselves. It is always great to meet FReepers.
Thanks for the pictures. Darn .... I missed Elvis. :)
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