Tea Party protest in Missoula, around state Play Video
Posted: Apr 15, 2010 2:38 PM
Updated: Apr 16, 2010 11:59 AM
MISSOULA - Nationwide Tax Day triggered citizen protests across the country and on Thursday, Missoula became a hub for Montanans to express their views on the government and paying taxes.
More than 500 people stood outside the federal building on Broadway holding homemade signs with their political views.
Many protesters said the government takes too much of their money away in taxes, and one woman said she hasn't paid taxes in 10 years.
Missoula businessman Ken MacPherson waved his sign as cars honked at the group.
"Just seeing what's going on-what's going wrong-with my country," MacPherson said, "and there are so many things to list."
While the protesters came for a variety of personal reasons, all came to be heard.
"The objective is to try and send a message to the elected representatives and anybody in office, anybody who's gonna vote in November, anybody who will listen," Philipsburg resident Linda Cirincione said. "It's time to take action and not sit back complacently anymore."
Protesters lingered downtown for more than four hours, at times giving speeches and singing songs like "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Tea Party protests were held across Montana on Thursday. The the Montana Shrugged group organized a tax day protest in Billings where an estimated crowd of 500 people of all ages congregated on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn just before noon carrying American flags and signs protesting the Obama administration.
The speakers including Montana Shrugged founder Eric Olsen rallied the crowd with the message fair taxes and limited government. The demonstration at the courthouse lasted a little over an hour after which the protesters marched through downtown Billings and circled Senator Max Baucus' Billings office.
Meanwhile, Bozeman Tea Party activists marked Tax Day by marching through the streets of Bozeman.
Grasping signs with messages like "Conservatives for the Constitution" and "Nobama," the members of the Bozeman Tea Party group assembled at the Bozeman Public Library. The group, estimated at around 500 people, worked its way down Main Street just before noon Thursday, headed for the Gallatin County Courthouse.
In Great Falls, local Tea Party supporters gathered on the front steps of the Civic Center late in the afternoon.
Tax Day Tea parties are also being held throughout the state including in Hamilton, Helena and Livingston.
According to a recent poll by CBS News and The New York Times, the vast majority of Tea Party members are white and 75% percent are at least 45 years old.
Some 59% are men, while 41% are women and most hail from the south. Most are college graduates that make more than $50,000 a year.
More than half identify themselves as Republicans while 41% say they are Independents and nearly three in four describe themselves as Conservative.
They are more likely to attend religious services weekly, with 61% of them Protestant. Some 78% of Tea Party supporters have never attended a rally or donated to a group and most have never visited a tea party website.
