-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Anti-tax protest not a 'near riot' Instead of a storming mob, demonstrators included families with kids ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Jon Dougherty © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com To hear most establishment news agencies tell it, mobs of angry Tennesseans "stormed" the state capitol building in Nashville, breaking windows and threatening lawmakers along the way. It was a "near-riot," as one Democratic spokesman described it. Meanwhile, House and Senate members were "very concerned about public safety," according to one faxed statement, and were therefore trying to find the best way of "diffusing the almost riot-like tension ... " Dozens of police officers – many in riot gear – were called in to block off streets in front of the Capitol building. Streets were shut down. The Capitol proper was sealed off. What was wrong? Was it a bomb threat? A terrorist plot? Armed insurrection? No, it was a largely non-violent tax protest. A few hundred (some reports said a few thousand) protesters showed up in Nashville Thursday to protest the legislature's latest attempt to implement a statewide income tax. According to eyewitness accounts filed by the Tennessee Taxpayers Coalition – a grassroots group set up specifically to oppose a state income tax – it is true that a few windows in the Capitol building were broken. But the demonstration became nothing like the "near-riot" it was described to be. "[Lawmakers] pulled out all of the stops and stacked the deck against the people of Tennessee but, thankfully, thousands of average citizens refused to succumb to tyranny," said coalition co-founder Joe Hafner. The protesters included many families with small children who were likely more frightened by the presence of hundreds of police in full riot gear than by the boisterous, but generally peaceful, crowd, said a coalition statement issued Friday. "Using a single broken window as an excuse to wrongly paint the peaceful protesters as violent and out of control is dangerously over-reacting to the situation," the statement said. According to the Associated Press, several windows were broken, including one in the governor's office. The protests began late Thursday afternoon when talk of an income tax resurfaced in the state Senate, news reports said. Protestors began showing up at the Capitol building after the issue was publicized by area and statewide talk radio hosts. As more people began to show up, the coalition said Nashville police began diverting traffic away from Charlotte Avenue – the street that runs directly in front of the Capitol – because of a growing number of horn-honking protestors. "In the past two years, those opposed to the state income tax have demonstrated their opposition by driving down Charlotte Avenue, which runs directly past the Statehouse, honking their car horns," rather than turning violent, the group said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing some cars given tickets by police before Charlotte Avenue was officially closed off. Also, the statement said, "guards refused entry to anti-income tax protesters, claiming that allowing more people into the building would violate the fire codes. Yet, they clearly violated fire codes by securing doors with chains and padlocks." "Additionally, lobbyists wearing pro-income tax stickers were allowed entry while protesters were refused entry," the statement said. Only a few anti-tax protesters were allowed inside the building, witnesses told the coalition, but they were told to remove any paraphernalia – buttons, stickers and other items – depicting an anti-tax theme. "Yet, when these people made their way upstairs, they found a Tennessee state employee handing out pro-income tax stickers," the statement said. "Capitol officials also closed the House and Senate galleries to the public while they met to debate the income tax bill," said the tax coalition. "The pro-income tax forces know an overwhelming majority of Tennesseans are firmly against a state income tax," Hafner said. "That's why they employed backroom dealing and Gestapo tactics in their attempt to get an income tax passed while the taxpayers were looking the other way." No injuries were reported and no arrests were made, reports said. In the end, the protesters' position prevailed. The budget sent to Gov. 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