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Tea Party activists protest at Pelosi event in Boston

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 5, 2010 12:49 PM

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Austin Hess of Boston sported a Colonial hat for the protest.

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

Chanting "Listen to the people!" and "Go back to San Fran!" about 20 activists from the Tea Party movement protested US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's appearance today at a downtown Boston fund-raiser.

The protesters, who gathered outside the Liberty Hotel, were largely motivated by their opposition to President Obama's health care bill, holding signs bearing messages like "60 percent of the people say no" and "Reconciliation -- Unforgivable -- Unforgettable."

As US Representative Michael Capuano arrived at the event, which was closed to the media, protester Michael D. Farquhar shouted, "Mike, have you heard of the Constitution? I don't mean the ship."

"Hey, Mike, where's the jobs?" continued Farquhar, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from Acton, who has a blog called "Rabid Republican."

Pelosi, a Democrat from California, was raising funds at the hotel for Democratic US Representative Carole Shea-Porter of New Hampshire.

Activists in the fiscally conservative, antiestablishment Tea Party movement say they're starting new chapters in Massachusetts. People, they said, have been galvanized by opposition to the health care bill and by the upset victory of Republican Senator Scott Brown in a January special election.