Cars speeding below them
honked and drivers held thumbs up out their windows in support of demonstrators
standing on the Tucker Street overpass Friday afternoon.
They held up American
flags and signs reading "Defund Obamacare," "Benghazi,"
"Impeach Obama" and waved the historic Gadsden "Don't tread on
me flag" during the event, which was set to last from 3 to 7 p.m.
"There are too many
issues that need to be investigated and are overlooked by the mainstream
press," said Steve Carter, a member of local Tea Party organization
Alamance Conservative.
Members of the group,
which numbered about 17 during the early part of the demonstration, said they
were attempting to raise awareness on the need to repeal the Affordable Care
Act, investigate the 2012 Benghazi attack on the American diplomatic mission,
speak out against the National Security Agency's monitoring of electronic
communication and petition the government not to go to war in Syria.
"Obama wants to
take us to war and is so sure about chemical weapons in Syria, but hasn't done
anything about Benghazi," said Barbara Brown, one of the protestors. Below
"Benghazi" on the sign she held read the names of the four Americans
who were killed in the 2012 attack.
Carter and Brown said
the group was receiving a lot of positive feedback from drivers on Interstate
40/85, and similar protests have been held across the state and country.
"Overpasses for
Obama's Impeachment" is a grassroots movement that has held more than
40,000 events around the United States so far, Carter said. A Facebook page for
North Carolina participants has more than 2,000 members.
Carter said Alamance
Conservative meets monthly, and the group has almost 500 people signed up for
its emails. According to Carter, the majority of the group's members are
Republicans, though he said some members are conservative Democrats and they
have supported conservative candidates from other parties.
"We've supported
conservative Democrats for a variety of races -- judges, county commissioners
and school board members," Carter said.
The group meets every
third Thursday of the month at K&W Cafeteria, and Carter said they would be
hosting a town hall event in a couple weeks for city council and mayoral
candidates.
He said there was a core
group of people that were a part of the demonstration, but the group was
expecting other demonstrators to stop by for periods of time Friday.
"Fortunately, most
of our members work during the day and can't be here until later," Carter
said.
Source: Times-News (Burlington, NC) Tea
Party group takes to the overpass September 14, 2013 6:53 am (c)2013
Times-News (Burlington, N.C.) www.thetimesnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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