Yes!
and from what I understand...John Konop (also sponsoring the event and closely involved with the minutemen) is running for Congress... he is running against Tom Price..
Lyman called about 8:15 p.m. CT and the rally had just begun. On the way to the rally, the pace car had the honor of being escorted to the Tennessee State Capitol by eight (8) veteran members of Rolling Thunder, in full leathers and regalia!
THANK YOU ROLLING THUNDER from The Spirit of Allegiance!!!
That must have made quite a picture and I hope someone captured that on film.
Lyman described the crowd as between 400-500, carrying lots of American flags and displaying signs such as "STOP Illegal Immigration/INVASION."
Tim Wall, local radio host on WLAC, 1510 AM, who stated he came as an observer but was asked by the MMP to speak, said that "what we are facing is nothing short of a foreign invasion... 2006 will be a watershed year in this country, when II will move from issue #2 to issue #1. We have right on our side."
The crowd loved him, as they did every speaker, with shouts, whistles, cheers, comments!! LOL.
Bob Isaacs, president of the local chapter of Rolling Thunder, the well known nation-wide group of POW/MIA/veterans supporters and bikers, said "This is America, not Amexico." He spoke to the solemn duty we have to our armed forces and veterans to not let the government "throw our country away."
Did y'all know, Tennessee is "The Volunteer State"?!
Joyous cheers greeted the introduction of MMP leader Jim Gilchrist, who said "I'm also known as Average Joe Citizen and I'm proud to be a Minuteman." He recounted how friends of his who once called him a kook now think he is a hero. When he first called for volunteers, in 2003, he thought he would get half a dozen but 1,200 showed up. Jim went over the numbers, estimating at least 30 million unlawful aliens currently reside in the U.S., and related the appalling statistic that 10,000 Americans have been killed by illegals since 9/11/01. He hailed the very few legislators -- Tancredo, Sessions, Sensenbrenner, Lott -- who have stood up to fight the invasion and urged his listeners to vote out those who don't.
Gilchrist closed with "We can win this contest under the rule of law, under the First Amendment."
Tom Kovach, Air Force Blue Beret and columnist, author of "Light Up the Borders," spoke about his upcoming campaign for U.S. Congress (www.T-05-TN.net), thanked the crowd for coming out and said, "Remember three words: BUILD. THAT. WALL!!"
Jim Gilchrist commanded all Caravan members to come up to the stage at the end of the rally and they were warmly cheered.
Lyman introduced me by phone to a young TN lady who experienced the illegals' rally at the Capitol in April, was harassed and hounded for taking photos, and will now join the Caravan at some point.
GOD BLESS OUR MINUTEMEN!! MEN AND WOMEN, STAND YOUR GROUND!! WE CAN AND WE WILL SAVE AMERICA!!