At last count, more than 800 tea parties were held around the United States to protest our federal government’s irresponsible spending. Most observers agree that this is the largest spontaneous grassroots movement that has ever occurred in our country. The mainstream media either did not cover the events, or did so sparingly or in a derogatory manner, sealing both their brand as a liberal mouthpiece and their irrelevance.

From St. Paul, Minnesota:

American Daughter editorial writer Steve Haas writes:

There were close to 5000 people at the Minnesota State House to protest the government’s program of taxing and spending. You can see the photos here.

Steve Haas writes the popular weblog Amber: The War for Civilization.

From Newberg, Oregon:

American Daughter editorial writer Allan Erickson was a speaker. He writes:

In our little town of Newberg (population 20,000) we had about 100 people turn out to listen to a couple of speeches and wave flags and banners while motorists blared their horns in support.

Our message was simple and straightforward, a message everyone seemed to support: This is not a Democrat or Republican deal, this is massive citizen activism expressing anger at the federal government especially for their efforts to take all power and concentrate it in Washington….

Allan writes the GOODNESS WORLD LIFE BLOG. Read more of Allan’s post about this rally here. You can read the full text of Allan’s speech here.

From Baltimore, Maryland:

American Daughter contributor Jim Simpson was the keynote speaker. He writes:

I just spoke at Baltimore’s Tea Party. The local ABC affiliate was there but I didn’t see any cameras and they sure didn’t interview me. It was raining hard, and they only organized it about two weeks ago, but there were about 300 people there I would guess and they were stoked! …. I don’t know if anyone else was inspired, but I felt electrified. I have never felt so alive. It was fun.

Jim Simpson writes the weblog Truth & Consequences.

From Reston, Virginia:

Originally scheduled for Lake Anne Village Center Plaza, the Tea Pary had to be moved to Baron Cameron Park due to larger than expected turnout, according to organizer John Grigsby. John writes:

Consider that:

• It took nearly 200 years before total federal spending topped $1 trillion (in 1987). In 2002, 15 years later, spending exceeded $2 trillion. By most indications, it will have taken less than half that time — seven years — to break the $3 trillion mark. (Source: NTU.org)
• Our Federal Government has a $11+ Trillion Debt (Source: NTU.org)
• There were 11,610 Federal projects, at a cost of $17.2 billion, in FY 2008, identified as “pork” by Citizens Against Government Waste (Source: 2008 CAGW Pigbook)

From Buffalo, New York:

Rus Thompson reports:

They came by the hundreds filling up Niagara Square on this Tax deadline day to say they’re fed with all the taxes they’re paying.

Buffalo organizers are Rus Thompson, whose blog is Albany’s Insanity, Laurie Kostrzewski and Alan Coniglio. Watch the local television coverage of the Buffalo rally:

Over at Free Republic, there is a message thread where folk from all over the country are posting the totals from their tea parties. So far:

Melbourne, Florida – 1000

Boise, Idaho – 2500

Longview, Texas – 1000

Tyler, Texas – 1400

Morristown, New Jersey – 1500 (at 12:30 PM)

Denver, Colorado – 5500

Austin, Texas – 1000 Other reports put Austin between 3k and 5k.

Myrtle Beach, SC – 600 to 800 Correction, the news is saying “thousands”…..that’s a great thing!!!

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – 3000

Local radio in San Antonio estimated the Alamo Plaza crowd at 15,000, 45 minutes before the rally officially began.

Durango, Colorado 250-275

At least 2000 in Fort Collins, Colorado

Duluth Mn – Paper reports 700. I think more like 1000. For one thing people were coming and going the whole time. If you counted the people who spent SOME time there I bet it was more like 1200.

Ocala, FL – 1,000

Madison Wisconsin – 8000 people according to the Capitol Police

Local Nashville TN radio host (WLAC), Steve Gill, … said that those who know these things estimated 10,000.

San Jose CA First Tea Party about 200 from noon-3. There is a second tea party at 5pm.

We just got back from our rally in the state capitol of Washington state (Olympia). We are guessing a couple thousand, maybe three thousand were in attendance. My friend who works at the capitol said they haven’t seen a bigger crowd.

Moscow Idaho 400+ Small town USA

Appleton, Wisconsin is expecting up to 2,000

Flemington NJ Tea Party about 750 in attendance.

Salt Lake City at the Federal Bldg. in the mid 30s and snowing. I originally estimated at least 1000, but I was at the back and to one side. Andyman was more centrally located in the crowd. His estimate is 3000.

I attended one in Eustis FL today… My guess would be about 400 people. Maybe more. And this is a small town.

Carson City, Nevada…radio station reports 2,000.

Bellevue, Washington about 1,000

Grand Rapids, Mich. – I would put the number at 3000 easy, and that may be an undercount. The turnout was huge, with people coming in the whole time.

Philadelphia, PA – I estimated 700 at 1:00p but many people were stopping by for brief periods which suggests that possibly 1,000 atended.

Georgetown, Delaware – noon to 2 pm. 200+ people: 47 degrees, rain, windy

Baton Rouge, Louisianna – 2000 to 3000

Suburbs of Seattle, WA: Renton approx 100 and Issaquah reports of 200+

Paris, Texas reported at 300-400.

Providence, RI somewhere north of 2000.

Greenville, NC – approx. 200

Palm Desert, CA – guesstimate a good 2000

Jefferson City, MO at the capital. A couple of hundred people at 3:00 when it kicked off

Jacksonville, FL – 1500, the news said 1000 but it sure seemed way more

Santa Rosa California had about 200-300+

Currituck County (NC) Courthouse steps at Noon – 200+

Pasquotank County (NC) Courthouse at 5:30PM – 200+ in windy, cold drizzle.

Santa Ana, CA – At least 1500 40 minutes into a 2 hour event. I am assuming the sum total for the total event to be closer to 3000 or more.

Mobile, AL – 1000

Dockweiler Beach, Los Angeles CA – 2500

Jasper, Indiana – 150

Tucson, AZ reporting 2500 – 3000.

Clarksburg, WV – VA Park from 12:00 – 1:00. Approximately 300 people.

Willoughby, OH – 50-75

Eastlake, OH – 30-50

Bangor, Maine paper states 300 real count around 350 -450

Fort Payne Alabama… 200+ Huge for a small town of less than 13k at midday (when most folks work).

Sacramento, CA; 10-15K

Nashville – 10,000

Cottonwood, Arizona 300 or more one hour rally at Noon

Indianapolis: Around 1,000 on a COLD and blustery afternoon.

Rural Ohio Dairy Hut: 50 people. Think about that and all the small towns everywhere that did this, rain or shine.

Lansing, MI — Park Service at the Capitol reports 5,000.

Memphis, 3000!

2000+ in Las Vegas, Nevada at the corner of Eastern and Sunset from noon till about three.

Hendersonville, Tennessee – 1,500 and they are still arriving

San Antonio says 9000-10,000 in attendance.

Cincinnati, Ohio — ~ 5000

Deland, FL – 500-1000

Alabama rallies:
Montgomery – 500 (WSFA-TV)
Wetumpka – 200
Mobile – 2000
Auburn – 500
Ft. Payne – 250
Florence – no numbers yet
Huntsville – no numbers yet (estimated in the thousands)
Birmingham – tbd.

South East Texas/Beaumont, Tx. at about 5:15 approx 7-800, with more still walking in, Amazing for this area (D)..

Roswell, GA (North Fulton and Friends Tea Party) – local news estimate 300.

Cincinnati, Ohio — ~ 5000

Nauvoo Il. pop 1000. there were between 60 and 70 people in attendance. No broken windows or cars over turned but we did say the pledge of allegiance and sang the national anthem. Just ordinary folks no politicians.

Winchester, VA — 350

Huntington, West Virgina – 100 people.

Chicago, Federal Plaza overflowing, cold and windy, probably 4,000-5,000.

Chicago, Land of Lincoln who freed the slaves and Land of Obama who enslaved the free: 5000 per the lady cop who I asked, estimate.

Estes Park, CO – 300

Roanoke, VA 500-750

Grand Rapids Michigan tea party had at least 3000.

Palm Desert, California – around 2000

Temecula, SoCal – Estimated group size was 1000 people or more.

Eustis, Florida – 1,500

Elko, Nevada – estimate….100

Cleveland, Ohio estimated 5,000 by Channel 8 news.

Wausau, WI – 150-200 people (estimate — could definitely be more people).

Chattanooga, TN. – 800 – 1000. Cold and windy but a great crowd.

Colorado Springs reporting 1,000 tax protesters.

Huntsville, AL – Police estimate 2,300 people

Virginia Beach, VA – 2000

Poplar Bluff, MO – 250-275

Knoxville, TN – I would say conservatively 1,500 – 2,000.

Austin TX. 11:30am Tea Party….1500-2000

Austin TX. 4:00pm-7:00pm Tea Party….?????

Morristown, NJ – 1,000 to 1,200 people, possibly as many as 1,500 to 2,000.

Jacksonville, FL estimating thousands.

Edenton, North Carolina(pop. 5900) – 400 to 500. Weather cool and damp.

Amarillo, Texas – 300 to 400 at the courthouse at noon. There’s another going on now at the main post office.

All over the country, people are posting their Tea Party photos online. Here are some:

• Myrtle Beach, SC Tea Party
• Austin, TX Tea Party
• Longview, TX Tea Party
• St. Paul, MN Tea Party
• Salt Lake City
• Eustis (North Lake area), Florida

Although this was the largest series of demonstrations in our country’s history, it was also the most orderly. There were no incidences of vandalism. Crowds included young and old, Republicans and Democrats and all sorts of independents. Children came with their parents and grandparents. Watching these events unfold all day gives some hope that there is still enough citizen involvement and awareness to save our country.

Related:

Americans for Tax Reform is compiling attendance totals:

Updated: How Many People Attended Yesterday’s Tax Day Tea Parties?
From Adam Radman on Friday, April 17, 2009 9:39 AM

ATR is working to compile an accurate number of how many people attended Tax Day Tea Parties yesterday. So far, we’ve tallied up 208 Tea Parties with roughly 271,941 attendees. I encourage anyone who attended a Tea Party yesterday that isn’t include in this post to leave your numbers in the comment section below. This project will be continually updated as best as we can.

WorldNetDaily – 1 million attend tea parties in 50 states

An estimated 1 million Americans participated in at least 1,000 tea parties, according to reports by organizers tabulating the nationwide numbers, with documented protests held in 50 states.