Are Tea Partiers Violent?

We've heard it over and over again from liberal politicians and the mainstream media: Tea Parties are racist and violent, at the very least. The latest example of this attitude comes from Brandeis University, which is hosting an event on "Right-Wing Radicalism"... equating modern day Tea Parties to Nazis.
http://michaelgraham.com/archives/i-wonder-if-brandeis-has-invited-nancy-pelosi-to-speak-at-this-event/

Of course, this isn't new... we've all heard the references to "brown shirts" and comparisons to KKK rallies. But what is the truth? Are Tea Parties really filled with violence and hate? To find out the answer to this question, let's ask the police who patrol these events.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0419/Are-tea-party-rallies-given-preferential-treatment-by-police

On Monday, the Christian Science Monitor bucked its mainstream peers by reporting something truthful about the TEA party movement: police officials have begun to relax security requirements at conservative rallies because of the remarkable absence of violence.

Yes, you read that right: despite nonstop media warnings about hateful protests, violence from TEA party attendants is so nonexistent that police feel safe allowing them to bring large items and sometimes even guns.

And that's the truth of it. I've been involved in organizing one Tea Party, and have attended more than that, and I have yet to see the shows of racism, hatred, and violence that we hear talked about so much.


At the original Montgomery Tax Day Tea Party in 2009, we drew approximately 2,500 attendees for an hour in the middle of a weekday. The messages from the speakers were positive and constructive, and the event was a great success.

Imagine my surprise the very next day to discover that we had "a few hundred" participants at a "racist" rally. Pictures of TWO signs brought by individuals were taken to prove the latter charge... ignoring the many remaining signs that bore positive messages, primarily of fiscal responsibility and patriotism.

The event sprawled across the street, and both sides were filled with people... but we had no trouble. No violence, no angry shouts, and no racial epithets. After the event, the State House sent out staff to "clean up" after us. They commented on how little there was for them to clean up... and that this wasn't normal.

So pardon me if I view media and liberal attempts to paint us as violent racists with more than normal skepticism. It just doesn't fit in with what I've seen with my own eyes.

The truth is that, by and large, the Tea Party events are about as polite and organized as it is possible for large events to get. And that's not an accident, that's just our nature.