Members of the Jefferson Area Tea Party gathered Monday for a demonstration in support of their right to voice their grievances to U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy.
The protesters gathered on the sidewalk about 100 feet from the front door of Perriello’s district office in the Glass Building in downtown Charlottesville.
Nearly two dozen demonstrators then marched single file across the privately owned parking lot and entered Perriello’s office to voice their opposition to his office’s location, to certain taxes and to a campaign finance reform bill pending before Congress.
The conservative Tea Party members say there is a double standard when it comes to protesting in the Glass Building’s parking lot, as they have been banned by police while liberal groups have been permitted to protest uninterrupted.
“Our congressman is using taxpayer dollars to situate himself in an office building. … It’s not even an office building. It’s a retail building. It’s a bizarre choice,” said Carole Thorpe, chairwoman of the Jefferson Area Tea Party.
Thorpe said the Tea Party members want to protest on Perriello’s office doorstep because it is a “uniquely powerful platform” to express their views.
A brief anti-war skit was held in the parking lot outside Perriello’s office May 19. Police were not called in that case, Thorpe pointed out.
“A child was running around the parking lot and the parked cars,” she said. “No police were called.”
Several police officers were on hand Monday to ensure that protesters did not demonstrate in the lot.
The building’s landlord, Lisa Murphy, has asked Charlottesville police to ban any protesters — whether liberal or conservative — from the lot. Both the Tea Party and the anti-war group have received a letter from Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo warning them not to protest in the lot.
Murphy, who is in Connecticut for treatment of a health problem, has said she implemented the protest ban after several protests late last year proved disruptive to neighboring tenants.
“This is private property,” said Joan Fenton, a friend of Murphy’s who spoke on her behalf Monday. “We’re hoping that everybody respects that.”
Fenton added that the only reason the police were not called during last month’s anti-war street theater was because it was small, it took only 2 1/2 minutes and no one noticed it.
“No tenants saw it,” she said. “No police officers saw it. Had they known, the police would have been called.”
There is no double standard when it comes to protests, Fenton said.
Perriello said last week that he will respect Murphy’s decision to ban all protests in the parking lot.
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