April 15, 2010
Rallies at Freedom Plaza and around the Washington Monument were timed to coincide with tax day.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) addresses Tea Party members gathered in Freedom Plaza.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Republicans who played a hand in organizing Thursday's events spoke of mobilizing the tea party's grassroots members to defeat Democrats in this fall's midterm elections.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Former Representative Dick Armey addresses Tea Party members gathered in Freedom Plaza. Throughout the day, protesters arrived in Washington from North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and beyond.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
For the Tea Party Express, a cross-country bus caravan of conservative groups, Washington was the culmination of a journey that began March 27 in Searchlight, Nevada.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Linda Farley, of Edmonton, Ky., wears her issues on the outside of her vehicle as she joins other Tea Party members gathered in Freedom Plaza.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) greets Julian Kulski as he arrives to join Tea Party members gathered on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
No official crowd estimates were available, but Mike Gaske, a spokesman with the national group Tea Party Patriots, said that at least 50 buses had come to Washington.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Lynee Lesperance, 8, of Ogdensburg, N.Y, rests on dad David's shoulders for a better vantage point as Tea Party members gather on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
Bill O'leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Jean Gentile, of Ocean Pines, Md., joins other tea party members at a gathering in Washington's Freedom Plaza.
Bill O'Leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Several thousand tax protesters and Obama opponents gather Thursday morning in sun-splashed weather to cheer speakers and vent their anger at government policies.
Bill O'Leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
On income tax deadline day, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist addresses tea party members at Freedom Plaza.
Bill O'Leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
One protester's sign features former Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), famous for declaring that there were Communists in the U.S. government in the 1950s.
Bill O'Leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Mark Herr, center, from Memphis, sings the national anthem with Henry Massery, left, of Elgin, Illinois, and Devon Grimes, right, of Fairfield, Ill., in Freedom Plaza.
Bill O'Leary-Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Carolyn Connolly and Ellen Batten greet fellow activists while waiting for the bus ride north from Durham, N.C., to Washington along with other members of North Carolina tea party chapters to attend a tax reform rally at the Washington Monument.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Carolyn Connolly and her granddaughter Brianna wait for the bus ride north to Washington.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Ellen Batten cheers the start of the bus ride north to Washington along with other tea party members. Many of the protesters said they had never before been active in politics.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Jennifer Stepp and Rebecca Ziady chat during the bus ride north. About 100 protesters made the trip together.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Rebecca Landau and Ethelle Fitch chat on the bus.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Brothers Mitchell and George Harrison discuss politics during the bus ride. All the riders said they felt the pull to object to the direction of the country under President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Jan Range, an immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 22 years, prays before the bus ride from North Carolina.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Tea party activist John Candillo naps during the bus ride.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
Marcus Kindley, the head of a tea party group called Informed Votes of North Carolina that is helping to coordinate the protests, said many more protesters came from other corners of the state and the nation.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
April 15, 2010
North Carolina tea party activists board the bus to D.C. "I have something driving me in the pit," said one. "I'm afraid of where the country's going, afraid of what I see."
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
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