JATP Stands in Support of Richmond Tea Party - Press Release

The Jefferson Area Tea Party stands in support of the Richmond Tea Party's efforts to recoup thousands of dollars it spent in compliance with City of Richmond event ordinances, due to the double-standard of favoritism applied by city government to Occupy Richmond.

 

In Charlottesville, we recently witnessed the similar actions of a government gone wild that gave unprecedented waivers and accommodations to a single group with whom it shared political kinship.  This failure of equal protection under the law is playing out in cities all across America - and perhaps most heinously in Richmond, where an incredibly coincidental tax audit was imposed on the Tea Party shortly following its request for an $8,000.00 rebate of fees and expenses it had to pay for its events that were waived for Occupy Richmond.

 

While the JATP opted to pay its bills and to not ask for a rebate of past expenses (nominal by comparison to those of the RTP), we support the effort of any Tea Party group in a similar circumstance that chooses to seek reimbursement and stand for principle. 

 

We condemn the blatantly heavy-handed, punitive tactics of Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City of Richmond government, and call on them to cease abusing their power in contradiction to their sworn duty to equally administer the law and represent all of its citizens in a fair manner.

 

Issued 12/6/2011 

Carole Thorpe, Chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party