Black American Leadership Alliance D.C. Anti-Immigration Rally Wilts

[DonViejo]

Jul 16, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

Whether it was the scorching heat or simple apathy, the D.C. anti-immigration march that was supposed to ‘shut down this town’ attracted barely 1,000 protesters Monday, reports Michelle Cottle.

As protests go, Monday’s anti-immigration march on the Capitol wasn’t exactly a blockbuster. Despite being cosponsored by Tea Party Community and heavily promoted by Tea Party groups, it wasn’t nearly so well attended as, say, the IRS protest last month. Tea Partier Greg Stafford, who came down from Akron, Ohio, for both gatherings, posited that maybe some people didn’t feel like making a return trip so soon. Still, Stafford expressed disappointment that his 50-seat bus had been only two-thirds full.

Elaine McIntosh and Isis Cox endured an even more disheartening ride from Buffalo. “Almost everyone who said they were coming canceled,” McIntosh told me, leaving her with only a half-dozen or so fellow travelers.

Asked about the number on her bus, Susan from Gonzalez, Texas, exclaimed, “Not enough!” and expressed dismay at the low overall turnout, which appeared to be in the neighborhood of 1,000 to perhaps 1,200.

In touting Monday’s event, leaders from the group officially hosting the march, the anti-immigration Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA), had promised to “shut down this town” and cause total “gridlock.” But the collection of protesters who drifted from downtown Freedom Plaza toward the Capitol, many clad in the cherry red “No Amnesty” T-shirts distributed by BALA, were a mere blip by D.C. standards. And the crowd that assembled at the main rally area in the Upper Senate Park barely stretched back as far as the media pen set up a few yards in front of the speakers’ stage.

full article
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/16/black-american-leadership-alliance-d-c-anti-immigration-rally-wilts.html