Tea partiers condemn harassment
Tea party leaders quickly denounced slurs reportedly directed at House Democrats during Washington rallies before SundayÂ’s vote, pointing out they were not representative of most tea partiers.
Tea party organizers across the country are condemning the harassment and threats of violence against House Democrats who voted in favor of the health care overhaul that passed the House Sunday.
Though individual tea partiers — and many Republicans — have distanced themselves from the threats and deemed them unaffiliated with the movement, the condemnations mark a more forceful response and indicate a keen awareness of the damage that being linked to them could do to the tea party brand. There hasn't been any hard evidence that the reported harassment is linked to the tea party movement, but Democrats have tried to draw the link between the harassment and the sometimes-inflammatory rhetoric that tea partiers and Republicans deployed in opposing the health care overhaul.
The organizers of some major Florida tea party groups, for instance, on Thursday morning released an open letter to Congress and President Barack Obama declaring they “stand in stark opposition to any person using derogatory characterizations, threats of violence, or disparaging terms toward members of Congress or the President.”
The letter calls the tea parties “a peaceful movement” and says its leaders denounce “all forms of violence” and “support all efforts to bring [any perpetrators] to justice and have encouraged full cooperation within our movement and have asked for the same from the members of Congress who have laid such claims.”
The letter is signed by leaders of two statewide tea party coalitions, the state chapter of the Washington-based FreedomWorks and local and regional tea party groups in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Deerfield Beach and Viera, among others.
Brendan Steinhauser, who helps organize local tea parties around the country for FreedomWorks, issued a statement Thursday declaring “Political violence is both immoral and ineffective, and will only set the movement back.” He said he is "reminding all grassroots leaders that it's important to focus our efforts on peaceful, political efforts like protests, office visits, letters, petitions and of course, voting.”
However, he also urged caution in attributing violence or threats of violence to tea party activists.
“We must remember that the folks committing these acts are small in number, extreme in their methods and not yet proven to be members of our movement,” he said. “But we ust be diligent in denouncing all acts of political violence and racism, when they occur.”
A coalition of Colorado tea party groups expressed similar sentiments in a Thursday morning press release.
The release said “Tea party and similar groups across Colorado are saddened tonight to hear of threats made upon Democratic lawmakers in response to the passing their recent health insurance reform legislation, specifically … Rep. Betsy Markey,” a Colorado Democrat.
MarkeyÂ’s office notified police it received a phone call Saturday in which the caller told a staffer "You better hope I don't run into you in a dark alley with a club, a knife or a gun."
The Colorado tea party release emphasizes “it does not appear that these threats stemmed from those within Colorado's tea party movement.” But it adds “organizers and members alike are firmly denouncing any acts of intimidation or threat. Statewide, Tea Party leadership has encouraged disappointed members to get involved in the political process rather than dwell on the passage of the health care bill.”
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