Picket signs bearing "vote stupid out of Washington" and "conservatism built America" dotted the courtyard across from the Lee County Courthouse Saturday during the East Alabama Tea Party.
The event was held by the East Alabama Patriots, a political organization that believes in the constitutional values of limited government, personal responsibility and individual freedom.
The rally began with the national anthem and Pledge of Allegiance and consisted of a series of speeches from notable members of the Tea Party movement.
Caroline Wren, senior in economics and president of the Auburn College Republicans, spoke to the crowd saying American freedoms are being attacked.
"We're fighting against the best organized and most capable enemy of freedom that has ever existed in America," Wren said. "We're fighting against the progressive statists."
Wren's speech was met with applause and shouts of "Yeah," and "That's right."
The crowd also seemed to agree with the speech given by former NAACP chapter president and Baptist pastor the Rev. C.L. Bryant, with numerous standing ovations and repeated shouts of concurrence.
"To every politician and every would-be politician, and we don't care if they're red, yellow, black, white or purple, but we send this message to you," Bryant said. "We will not tolerate any more egg-sucking dogs in elected office."
Also at the rally was a new student organization at Auburn, Young Americans for Liberty.
Standing behind a table and handing out information for the organization were Bryant Haley, senior in wireless software engineering; Andrew Owens, sophomore in chemical engineering; and Michael Marsocci, senior in civil engineering.
The Young Americans for Liberty support limited government and lower taxes, but said its main concern is individual liberty.
"We don't want to use government to force anybody to do anything," Haley said.
Tea Party members say they think the government has become too invasive, which was a main theme throughout the event.
Debbie Gunnoe, a retired Air Force servicewoman and Tea Party organizer, was there to support the East Alabama Patriots.
"The federal government was never intended to have control over our lives as it has," Gunnoe said. "That's socialism. That's Marxism."
Some members of the Tea Party dressed as historical characters such as Abraham Lincoln for the event, and accepted donations from people in the crowd.
Joseph Mantler, Tea Party member from Auburn, was dressed as Paul Revere.
"The founders realized that there is no mythical entity called government," Mantler said. "It's a collection of individuals, and, given the opportunity, they'll do what's in their best interest."
Ed Sweeney, member of local and national Tea Party organizations who owns a pediatric practice in Auburn, was at the rally to show his support for the movement.
"We've turned politics into a business," Sweeney said. "It's not a profession--it's a service. It's a duty."
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