Tea party’s armed “Constitution Rally” a flop

The March 4 “bring your guns to the capitol” rally was more or less a bust. A good number of the tea party Republicans in the House and Senate spoke to just a handful of armed demonstrators. Most of the people in attendance at the rally were members of the media and curious onlookers. As far as actual demonstrators go, I counted 17 including two children.

The rest of the attendees were board members of the Lewis and Clark Conservative Tea Party and  Tim Ravndal’s core supporters, many of whom defected from the Big Sky Tea Party Association after Ravndal was ousted from that group last summer for making offensive comments about gays on Facebook.

Advance apologies for the poor cinematography.

March 4 Tea Party Rally: “grab your favorite weapon and join us on the steps of the capitol”.

The Lewis and Clark Conservative Tea Party is hosting a “Constitution Rally” at the state capitol on March 4.

The groups executive director, Tim Ravndal, announced the rally on the Montana Freedom Caucus’ online message board:

Are you ready to rock the steps of the capitol? grab your favorite weapon and join us on the steps of the capitol March 4th at 11:00AM. We will be focused on the Constitution and our rights. We will highlight the 2nd and 10th Amendments to our Constitution and will send a very very very loud message to our legislators who will be in the building when we are gathered outside on the steps. ”A coward will die a thousand deaths, while a brave warrior will die only one!”—The Alamo

Here’s a link to a screenshot in case the message disappears.

Ravndal followed that up with an e-mail blast to members of the Lewis and Clark Conservative Tea Party Association in which he advised:

“No Loaded Weapons!

All Weapons Must Be Safely Secured!

No Alcohol Or Drugs!

Having Our Voices Heard!

Standing For Freedom!”

Link.

The Lewis and Clark Conservative Tea Party is the group that spun off of the Big Sky Tea Party Association after its then-president, Tim Ravndal, posted an offensive comment on Facebook about homosexuals and was summarily ousted from the organization.